(184h) Effects of Nanoscale Geographies on Osseointegration and Bacterial Growth

Titanium has been widely used in bone implants, owing to its near-ideal mechanical strength

and relative biocompatibility, but often necessitates repeated surgeries due to infection and

poor osseointegration. Implants can be roughened with porous coatings to encourage cell

integration, and with nanoscale titanium texturing, there have been results of improved

osseointegration and decreased bacterial presence.

It is known that nanoscale features improve bone growth and reduce bacterial adherence, but

unknown exactly which structure of this texturing is most conducive to this. From previous

bacterial experiments with the titanium samples, there appeared to be no strong correlation

between the colony forming units of seeded S. aureus and the sample roughness, which

suggested that the current method of quantifying roughness with a specific value may be

flawed. Comparison of atomic force micrographs of samples alongside their â??roughnessâ? values

evidenced that a specific value did not imply a particular nanotexturing; some features

displayed similar roughnesses yet possessed dissimilar surface features. Investigation of these

nanogeographical differences demonstrated that samples with more dense, evenly sized

nanosurfaces resulted in greater bacterial inhibition than those with more varied nanofeatures.

Regardless, that all nanostructured samples exhibited strong antibacterial properties with little

detrimental effect on human osteoblasts.