Abstract

The factors responsible for modifications to the wettability characteristics of a titanium (Ti6Al4V) alloy bio-metal following Nd:YAG laser treatment and the effects thereof on the response of osteoblast cells were considered in this work. It was found that interaction of the Nd:YAG laser beam with the Ti6Al4V alloy resulted in the wettability characteristics of the bio-metal improving. Such improvements in the wettability characteristics of the Ti6Al4V alloy were found to be due to: an increase in the surface roughness; and increase in the surface oxygen content and an increase in the polar component of the surface energy. From the cell response tests it was determined that the osteoblast cell adhesion and proliferation on the Nd:YAG laser treated Ti6Al4V alloy samples was considerably greater than on the untreated samples. By isolating the effects of surface roughness it was possible to confirm or refute the existence of a correlation between wettability characteristics and osteoblast cell bioactivity for the Nd:YAG laser treated Ti6Al4V alloy. The findings indicated that the aspects of wettability characteristics: surface oxygen content and polar component of the surface energy play an important role in promoting cell proliferation, particularly when surface roughness was simultaneously increased. Thus it was possible to conclude that the wettability characteristics of the Nd:YAG laser treated Ti6Al4V alloy were correlated to osteoblast cell bioactivity.