Characterizing Surface Morphological and Chemical Properties of Commonly Used Orthopedic Implant Materials and Determining Their Clinical Significance

• Published in: Polymers Vol. 16; no. 9; p. 1193
• Main Authors: Jillek, Bertalan, Szabó, Péter, Kopniczky, Judit, Krafcsik, Olga, Szabó, István, Patczai, Balázs, Turzó, Kinga
• Format: Journal Article
• Language: English
• Published: Switzerland MDPI AG 01.05.2024
• Subjects: Acetabular components; Biocompatibility; Biological products; Biomedical materials; Bone surgery; chemical composition; Chemical properties; Cobalt base alloys; Femoral components; Fractures; Implants, Artificial; Interfaces; Intermetallic compounds; Knee; Microscopy; Morphology; Orthopaedic implants; orthopedic implants; Orthopedics; Photoelectrons; Polyethylene; Prostheses; Prosthesis; roughness; Scanning electron microscopy; Stainless steel; Stainless steels; surface characterization; surface morphology; Surface properties; Surface roughness; Surgery; Surgical implants; Titanium alloys; Titanium base alloys; Transplants & implants; Ultra high molecular weight polyethylene; X ray photoelectron spectroscopy; Hungary; Japan; surface morphology; roughness; chemical composition; orthopedic implants; surface characterization
• ISSN: 2073-4360; 2073-4360
• DOI: 10.3390/polym16091193

The goal of the study was to compare the surface characteristics of typical implant materials used in orthopedic surgery and traumatology, as these determine their successful biointegration. The morphological and chemical structure of Vortex plate anodized titanium from commercially pure (CP) Grade 2 Titanium (Ti2) is generally used in the following; non-cemented total hip replacement (THR) stem and cup Ti alloy (Ti6Al4V) with titanium plasma spray (TPS) coating; cemented THR stem Stainless steel (SS); total knee replacement (TKR) femoral component CoCrMo alloy (CoCr); cemented acetabular component from highly cross-linked ultrahigh molecular weight polyethylene (HXL); and cementless acetabular liner from ultrahigh molecular weight polyethylene (UHMWPE) (Sanatmetal, Ltd., Eger, Hungary) discs, all of which were examined. Visualization and elemental analysis were carried out by scanning electron microscopy (SEM), energy dispersive spectroscopy (EDS) and X-ray photoelectron spectroscopy (XPS). Surface roughness was determined by atomic force microscopy (AFM) and profilometry. TPS Ti presented the highest R value (25 ± 2 μm), followed by CoCr (535 ± 19 nm), Ti2 (227 ± 15 nm) and SS (170 ± 11 nm). The roughness measured in the HXL and UHMWPE surfaces was in the same range, 147 ± 13 nm and 144 ± 15 nm, respectively. EDS confirmed typical elements regarding the investigated prosthesis materials. XPS results supported the EDS results and revealed a high % of Ti on Ti2 and TPS surfaces. The results indicate that the surfaces of prosthesis materials have significantly different features, and a detailed characterization is needed to successfully apply them in orthopedic surgery and traumatology.