TOMSK, Sep 18 – RIA Tomsk. Scientists of Tomsk State University (TSU) with colleagues from other universities invented and tested a new anti-corrosion coating for titanium implants; it protects dental, spinal and other implants from exposure to biological fluids during intense loads in the human body, the TSU press service said on Tuesday.
It is specified that the scientific group, which includes scientists of TSU, Tomsk Polytechnic University (TPU) and Siberian State Medical University (SSMU), presented the test results of a new anti-corrosion coating. The Federal Institute of Industrial Property has already issued scientists a priority certificate on the invention of a new method for protecting the surface of titanium implants against corrosion.
"Thanks to the developed coating, titanium alloy implants are better protected from the effects of biological fluids under intensive loads in the human body. Effective protection extends their service life. The next stage of the project will be the optimization of coating methods and testing on laboratory animals", – is said in the report.
According to the press service, the method of protecting superelastic titanium nickelide is in the magnetron sputtering of a three-layer Ti-Ni-Ti laminate and subsequent heating. As a result of heating, the laminate turns into a multilayer gradient coating, which serves as a barrier to the diffusion of oxygen to the substrate and effectively protects the implant against aggressive biological fluids of the human body.
Scientists tested the cytocompatibility of sputtering with platelets. The cell culture was seeded on treated and untreated samples and a comparative analysis was performed. As a result, in the same period, the cells multiplied on the treated samples, but not multiplied on the untreated ones, which indicates a greater cytocompatibility of the treated surfaces.
"Thus, the method proposed by physicists and biologists to protect the surface of titanium alloys was effective in biological fluids. It can work for a long time on intensively loaded dental and spinal implants. Currently, the work is at the stage of laboratory experiments. Installation of implants to animals is planned at the next stages", – reports the university.