The aim of present research was to study the effect of some surface modification processes on wettability of Ti6Al4V surfaces for medical implants quantified by using the measurement of contact angle. The surface modification procedures of several disc samples were performed by sand blasting, acid etching, passivation, and their combinations. Sand blasting was done with 250...300μm SiO2 large grits. The acid etching process was performed in a dual bath of H2SO4 1n and HCl 1n (1:1) at different elevated temperatures (60°C, 80°C, and 100°C) using different process durations (1h, 3h, 6h, 12h, and 24h). Passivation was done in 30% HNO3 at room temperature. On modified surfaces we evaluated topography, by measuring roughness, and analyzing scanning electron micrographs. Contact angle was measured using static method and direct measurement of the tangent angle at the three-phase contact point on a sessile drop profile. We found that the influence of sand blasting prior to acid etching at low temperature (60°C) on contact angle is beneficial when using long acid etching times (12h and 24h). Increasing the process time for acid etching leads to a decrease in contact angle which is a desired result. Increasing the temperature of acid etching bath leads to an increase in contact angle, thus decreasing the wettability. The passivation treatment leads to an increase of contact angle on sand blasted surfaces, lowering the hydrophilic properties of surfaces, and does not influence significantly the contact angle on surface without sand blasting treatment. The best preparation procedure, in terms of wettability measured by contact angle, was found to be sand blasting, followed by acid etching in above mentioned dual acid bath at 60°C for 24hours. In this case we measured a contact angle of 46° showing good hydrophilic properties

Autologous cell therapy uses patients’ own cells to deliver precise and ideal treatment through a personalized medicine approach. Isolation of patients’ cells from residual tissue extracted during surgery involves specific planning and lab steps. In the present manuscript, a path from isolation to in vitro research with human mesenchymal stem cells (MSCs) obtained from residual bone tissues is described as performed by a medical unit in collaboration with a research center. Ethical issues have been addressed by formulating appropriate harvesting protocols according to European regulations. Samples were collected from 19 patients; 10 of them were viable and after processing resulted in MSCs. MSCs were further differentiated in osteoblasts to investigate the biocompatibility of several 3D scaffolds produced by electrospinning and 3D printing technologies; traditional orthopedic titanium and nanostructured titanium substrates were also tested. 3D printed scaffolds proved superior compared to other substrates, enabling significantly improved response in osteoblast cells, indicating that their biomimetic structure and properties make them suitable for synthetic tissue engineering. The present research is a proof of concept that describes the process of primary stem cells isolation for in vitro research and opens avenues for the development of personalized cell platforms in the case of patients with orthopedic trauma. The demonstration model has promising perspectives in personalized medicine practices.

Background: Treatment of pelvic injuries poses serious problems for surgeons due to the difficulties of the associated injuries. The objective of this research is to create a clinical workflow that integrates three-dimensional technologies in preoperative planning and performing surgery for the reduction and stabilization of associated acetabular fractures. Methods: The research methodology consisted of integrating the stages of virtual preoperative planning, physical preoperative planning, and performing the surgical intervention in a newly developed clinical workflow. The proposed model was validated in practice in a pilot surgical intervention. Results: On a complex pelvic injury case of a patient with an associated both-column acetabular fracture (AO/OTA-62C1g), we presented the results obtained in the six stages of the clinical workflow: acquisition of three-dimensional (3D) images, creation of the virtual model of the pelvis, creation of the physical model of the pelvis, preoperative physical simulation, orthopedic surgery, and imaging validation of the intervention. The life-size 3D model was fabricated based on computed tomography imagistics. To create the virtual model, the images were imported into Invesalius (version 3.1.1, CTI, Brazil), after which they were processed with MeshLab (version 2023.12, ISTI—CNR, Italy) and FreeCAD (version 0.21.2, LGPL, FSF, Boston, MA, USA). The physical model was printed in 21 h and 37 min using Ultimaker Cura software (version 5.7.2), on an Ultimaker 2+ printing machine through a Fused Deposition Modeling process. Using the physical model, osteosynthesis plate dimensions and fixation screw trajectories were tested to reduce the risk of neurovascular injury, after which they were adjusted and resterilized, which enhanced preoperative decision-making. Conclusions: The life-size physical model improved anatomical appreciation and preoperative planning, enabling accurate surgical simulation. The tools created demonstrated remarkable accuracy and cost-effectiveness that support the advancement and efficiency of clinical practice.

The aim of present research was to find an effective method to manufacture sand blasted and acid etched (SLA) Ti6Al4V surfaces for dental implants, with an average surface roughness Ra of 1...2μm and a proper surface topography, as the morphology of dental implant surface is of extreme importance in the process of implant osseointegration. Several disc samples were subjected to sand blasting with 250...300μm SiO2 large grits followed by different procedures of acid etching using sulfuric acid and hydrochloric acid (single acid baths, dual acid bath), at room temperature and elevated temperature (60°). Corrosion rate and corrosion penetration rate were calculated from weight loss. The Ra roughness of samples was measured in each stage of the process. Scanning electron microscopy was performed in order to characterize the topography of the surfaces. We found that a proper SLA surface, with a roughness Ra of 2μm, and a topography with micropits less than 10μm, can be obtain by sand blasting the machined surface with large grits and then acid etching it using a mixture of (H2SO4+HCl) (1:1) at 60°C, for 24hours

Experiments that involved the testing of different steel samples over a wide range of loads were conducted in order to investigate the influence of micro-loads on accuracy of Vickers microindentation hardness testing. We found that for the same material the Vickers microhardness decreases with the decreasing of test load. The measuring error of Vickers microhardness on a steel block sample with known hardness was -25% when we used 10 gf load force. This is due to the fact that diagonal length values are in the range of micrometers and the precision of reading using optical microscopy is ± 0.5μm in length for most operators In order to improve accuracy of the reading of indents diagonals length we used two additional methods: scanning electron microscopy and graphical image processing. By this approach the measuring error of HV0.01 was reduced to an error of 3.78%.On samples coated with nanostructured (TiAlSi)N hard thin films developed by DC unbalanced magnetron sputtering, with thickness of 2..3μm, we found values around 2500 HV0.01 using this improved Vickers microhardness testing methodology

Nanoporous/nanotubular complex oxide layers were developed on high-fraction β phase quaternary Ti-Nb-Zr-Ta and Ti-Nb-Zr-Fe promising biomedical alloys with a low elasticity modulus. Surface modification was achieved by electrochemical anodization aimed at the synthesis of the morphology of the nanostructures, which exhibited inner diameters of 15–100 nm. SEM, EDS, XRD, and current evolution analyses were performed for the characterization of the oxide layers. By optimizing the process parameters of electrochemical anodization, complex oxide layers with pore/tube openings of 18–92 nm on Ti-10Nb-10Zr-5Ta, 19–89 nm on Ti-20Nb-20Zr-4Ta, and 17–72 nm on Ti-29.3Nb-13.6Zr-1.9Fe alloys were synthesized using 1 M H₃PO₄ + 0.5 wt% HF aqueous electrolytes and 0.5 wt% NH₄F + 2 wt% H₂0 + ethylene glycol organic electrolytes.