In order to do so, we have fabricated porous Ti64 and Ta structures under similar processing routine and same volume fraction porosity using Laser Engineered Net Shaping (LENS ™). This study is focused on direct comparison of material chemistry and porosity effects on Ti64 and Ta implants towards early-stage osseointegration. As a result of customized fabrication, drawing a direct comparison based on biological response of porous Ti64 and Ta structures as a function of porosity and material chemistry becomes erroneous. The difference in optimized processing techniques stem from individual intrinsic material properties of Ti (and its alloys) and Ta such as density (ρ) and melting points (T M) of Ta (ρ = 16.4 gm/cc, T M = 3290 K) and Ti64 (ρ = 4.506 gm/cc, T M = 1941 K). However, a continued and extended efficacy of porous Ta is found in terms of higher osteoid formation at 12 weeks post-surgery.Ĭommercially available porous titanium and porous tantalum structures for orthopedic and dental implants are fabricated using different processing route and parameters. The results presented here indicate comparable performance of porous Ta and surface modified porous Ti64 implants towards early stage osseointegration at 5 weeks post implantation through seamless bone-material interlocking. Field emission scanning electron microscopy (FESEM) was done to assess the bone-implant interface. The harvested implants were histologically analyzed for osteoid surface per bone surface. We have also assessed whether surface modification on Ti64 can elicit similar in vivo response as porous Ta in a rat distal femur model for 5 and 12 weeks. In this study, we have fabricated porous Ta and Ti6Al4V (Ti64) implants using laser engineered net shaping (LENS™) with similar volume fraction porosity to compare the influence of surface characteristics and material chemistry on in vivo response using a rat distal femur model for 5 and 12 weeks.
However, limited knowledge is available on direct comparison of additively manufactured porous Ta and Ti structures towards early stage osseointegration. In recent years, some of those implants are being manufactured using additive manufacturing.
Porous tantalum (Ta) and titanium (Ti) coatings are widely used for non-cemented implants, which are fabricated using different processing routes. Material properties of implants such as volume porosity and nanoscale surface modification have been shown to enhance cell-material interactions in vitro and osseointegration in vivo.