Osteoconductivity of Hydrothermal-Treated Valve Metals

Anti-corroded valve metals, such as Ti, Nb, Ta, and Zr have been used as metallic biomaterials. However, as untreated surfaces, they do not have high osteoconductivity, and surface coatings with bioactive substances are needed for the implantation into the bone. Surface property, especially hydrophilicity, is considered to have a strong influence on the biological reactions. However, the influence of a hydrophilic surface on osteoconductivity is not completely clear. In this study, we produced super-hydrophilic surface on valve metals (Ti, Nb, Ta and Zr) using a hydrothermal treatment at 180 °C for 180 min. in the distilled water, and then the treated samples were stored in 5PBS(-). This maintained water contact angle less than 10 (deg.) in an apparent. The osteoconducivity of super-hydrophilic treated metals was evaluated with in vivo tests. The hard tissue formation on the samples increased with decreasing the water contact angle. That is to say that super-hydrophilic valve metals without coating of bioactive substances had high osteoconductivity, and the surface properties strongly affected on the osteoconductivity.