Jjam. Vanraay et al., BIOCOMPATIBILITY OF WEAR-RESISTANT COATINGS IN ORTHOPEDIC-SURGERY IN-VITRO TESTING WITH HUMAN FIBROBLAST CELL-CULTURES, Journal of materials science. Materials in medicine, 6(2), 1995, pp. 80-84
The in vitro biocompatibility of six wear-resistant coatings that were
devised as an alternative to polyethylene in resurfacing hip arthropl
asties was assessed. The coatings were applied on glass-cover slips vi
a the chemical vapour deposition (CVD) and physical vapour deposition
(PVD) methods. Testing was performed in human fibroblast cultures and
toxicity was evaluated by use of total cell surface quantitation, ligh
t and scanning electron microscopy. Multiple cracks were observed in t
he tungstenhydrogencarbide (WCH) and chromiumcarbide (CrC) coatings im
mediately after adding the growth medium. These surface alterations we
re not related to the presence of fibroblasts. Because of these surfac
e changes, the general biocompatibility of WCH and CrC could not be as
sessed. Chromiumoxide (Cr2O3) caused severe alterations in cellular mo
rphology followed by significant cytotoxicity. Alumina (Al2O3), titani
umnitride (TiN) and titaniumcarbide (TiC) coatings caused no adverse e
ffects on cells in culture. The fibroblasts showed a rapid and logarit
hmically stable growth curve on these three materials. They merit furt
her investigation as a wear-resistant coating for orthopaedic implants
.