Bone growth is enhanced by novel bioceramic coatings on Ti alloy implants.

Calcium phosphate ceramics are widely used as coating materials to orthopedic implants and are found to enhance initial bony ingrowth by stimulating osseous apposition to the implant surface. In this study, two novel calcium orthophosphate materials were selected for coating onto the commonly used orthopedic implant material Ti-6Al- 4V. One was calcium alkali orthophosphate with the crystalline phase Ca10[K/Na](PO4)7 with a small addition of SiO2 (AW-Si) and the other was calcium orthophosphate composed of 70 mol % fluorapatite, Ca10(PO4)6F2 and 30 mol % CaZr4(PO4)6 (FA7Z).

Inhibition of mineralization by a calcium zirconium phosphate coating.

Bioactive ceramics used as coating materials combine the conductive properties of a bioceramic with the mechanical stability of the metal implant. We studied a calcium zirconium phosphate-containing coating material, FA-CZP [Ca(5)(PO(4))(3)F, CaZr(4)(PO(4))(6)], that is relatively insoluble in the biological milieu. The reaction of bone to this material was investigated histologically and histomorphometrically in an animal trial.