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The bone ingrowth potential of three-dimensional E-beam-produced implant surfaces was examined by histology and compared to a porous plasma-sprayed control. The effects of acid etching and a hydroxyapatite (HA) coating were also evaluated by histology. Specimens were implanted in the distal femur of 10 goats. Histological analysis of bone ingrowth was performed 6 weeks after implantation. The E-beam-produced surfaces showed significantly better bone ingrowth compared to the plasma-sprayed control. Additional treatment of the E-beam surface structures with a HA coating, further improved bone ingrowth potential of these structures significantly. Acid etching of the E-beam structures did not influence bone ingrowth significantly. In conclusion, the HA-coated, E-beam-produced structures are promising potential implant surfaces. [ABSTRACT FROM PUBLISHER]

Electron beam melting (E-beam) is a new technology to produce 3-dimensional surface topographies for cementless orthopedic implants. The effect of two newly designed highly porous E-beam engineered surface structures (cubic and star) on attachment, proliferation and differentiation of human mesenchymal stem cells (hMSCs) was investigated and compared to a solid sandblasted control. SEM analysis showed that the E-beam structures allowed cells to attach and spread. Proliferation on the new surface structures was comparable to the solid control. Furthermore, differentiation on the 3D structures was comparable to the control specimen. When culturing 300,000 cells for 10 days, the cubic structure showed a significantly higher differentiation rate compared to the sandblasted specimen. We conclude that the results for attachment, proliferation and differentiation of mesenchymal stem cells on the newly engineered 3-dimensional E-beam surface topographies are promising. In vivo experiments are necessary to assess the bone ingrowth potential of the new surface structures. [ABSTRACT FROM AUTHOR]