Biomedical Research

Medical devices and implants are fabricated in many conventional techniques, but due to advancements in implant manufacturing industry, Additive Manufacturing (AM) takes a wide platform in fabricating these devices with good mechanical property, dimensional stability and customised according to the patient data with variety of biomaterials. Polyamide is a notable biomaterial in fabricating medical devices, dental screws and implants using AM technique. In this study, Hydroxyapatite (HA) powder was coated over Additive Manufactured polyamide substrate and its biocompatibility in terms of cell proliferation and viability were analysed. Physical Vapor Deposition (PVD) with Electron Beam (EB) source was used to deposit HA powder over the polyamide surface. SEM with EDX was used to characterize the microstructure and the chemical composition of the deposited layer. The crystallinity of layer was confirmed using XRD analysis. 3T3 fibroblast cells were seeded over the coated substrate up to 15 days and the cell proliferation and viability were studied. From the result, it was evident that the HA layer was successfully deposited over the AM polyamide surface and the cells displayed good proliferation and viability on the coated substrate. Hence, the AM polyamide substrate has a better biocompatibility which improves bone-tissue integration.

Author(s): Hariharan K, Arumaikkannu G
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