SURFACE CHARACTERIZATION AND BIOLOGICAL EVALUATION OF SPARK-ERODED SURFACES

Forty commercially pure titanium implants were prepared with a spark-e roding process in order to create highly increased surface roughnesses . Two degrees of roughness were achieved by altering the applied curre nt. Surface topographical characterization was performed with SEM and an optical profilometer. The surface composition and oxide layer were investigated using Auger scanning microscopy. In the present study, th ere was a large difference between the stipulated and measured surface roughness, indicating the need for a careful surface characterization in each new study. After 12 wk in rabbit bone, no statistically signi ficant difference was found with respect to peak removal torque and hi stomorphometric analyses. The results from the present study provide n o support for further increase of the surface roughness than that poss ible to achieve with a blasting technique.