Preparation of calcium phosphate coatings on titanium by pulsed Nd:YAG laser processing

The biocompatibility, osteointegration of the titanium implants, which are mainly used in oral surgery depends essentially on both the morphology and the chemical composition of the interface between the bio-tissue and the implant. In addition to the known laser-based methods of increasing the roughness, changing the morphology of the surface and enlarging the effective tissue-implant contact area, pulsed Nd-YAG laser processing of the surface in the presence of hydroxyapatite (HA) and tricalcium phosphate (TCP) was performed. More versatile bioactive coating may be created in this way in comparison with the known plasma spray method. Optical and electron microscope investigations as well as EDX revealed that a specific surface microstructure, micro-heterogeneous titanium-calcium phosphate coatings can be fabricated by the developed method which may further influence the osteointegration of Ti implants due to the changes of surface morphology, mechanical and chemical stability, bio-activity.