Chemical EDX analyis of different surface modified implant systems

The main used processes of modification of the implant surface are: machining, sandblasting, etching and oxiding. They have the purpose to reduce the times of the osseointegration and to improve its quality. The aim of this study was to investigate how these processes macroscopically (at 5 m depth) modify the implant surface and its chemical composition. The originality of this investigation was that all the implants were tested as manufactured for clinical use. Ten of the major used implant systems were the object of this study: they were divided by the surface treatment in: Machined: Mk III Branemark; Sandblasted: Ankylos, Silhouette and Galant (experimental fixture); Etched: Osseotite, Mac System, MK 4 (experimental fixture), ITI; Oxided: Ti Unite, Pilot . Each fixture was analyzed by SEM (Leo 420) at 50x and 5000x at 15 KV of scanning power. The EDX analysis (Energy Dispersion X-ray analysis) was considered to study eventual inclusion of material left from the processes of surface modification, cleaning and decontamination. The EDX analysis scans the implant surface at a 5m of depth and is performed during SEM observations using a specific micro tip that identify the chemical elements. The results from SEM analysis shown macroscopical residuals of aluminum oxide on the SLA surface and some oil spots on the machined surface. The results from the EDX analysis are below summarized: Sandblasted surfaces showed particles of Alumina Oxided surfaces showed very high peaks of O2 Etched surfaces showed only Titanium peaks Machined surfaces showed low peaks of O2