Observation of the biocompatibility of surface-treated Ti-15%Zr-4%Nb-4%Ta alloy

 

Yasuko Numata1, Hiroshi Nakada2, Toshiro Sakae3, Taketoshi Suwa2,Yoshimitsu Okazaki4,

Kihei Kobayashi5, John P. LeGeros6, and Racquel Z. LeGeros6

 

1 Nihon University Graduate School of Dentistry at Matsudo, Complete Denture Prosthodontics

2 Department of Gnatho-Oral Prosthetic Rehabilitation, Nihon University School of Dentistry at Matsudo

3 Department of Histology, Cytology, and Developmental Anatomy, Nihon University School of Dentistry at Matsudo

4 Institute for Human Science and Biomedical Engineering, National Institute of Advanced Industrial Science and Technology  5Nihon University Research Center

6 Department of Biomaterials and Biomimetics, New York University College of Dentistry.

 

  The purpose of this study was to observe the biocompatibility of surface-treated Ti15Zr4Nb4Ta embedded in rabbit tibias, and to serially measure the bone mineral density (BMD) of newly generated bone around Ti15Zr4Nb4Ta in order to evaluate the new bone formed around surface-treated Ti15Zr4Nb4Ta implants. The observation periods were 4 and 8 weeks. After excising tibias, micro-CT (Rigaku) was performed and a bone mineral quantitative phantom was taken to calculate the BMD of the newly generated bone. Our results revealed that surface-treated Ti15Zr4Nb4Ta formed newly generated bone in the rabbit tibia, showing good biocompatibility. Grant-in-Aid Young Scientists (B: 19791462) from the JSPS, Japan.