Research on biocompatibility of artificial prosthesis with plasma-sprayed tantalum coating

[Objective] To investigate the possibility of artificial prosthesis with plasma-sprayed tantalum (Ta) coating in clinical application.[Method]The author adopted morphological observation and 3-(4,5-dimethylthiazol-2-yl)-2,5-diphenyltetrazolium bromide (MTT) assay to evaluate the biocompatibility of titanium (Ti) alloy (Ti-6A1-4V) with a Ta coating about the cytotoxicity,cellular adhesion and celluar proliferation.[Result]The morphology of cells on Ta coating was normal as in the control group.Results from the cytotoxicity experiment indicated that there was no statistical difference among the Ta coating group (113.2%±0.01),the hydroxyapatite(HA) coating group (110.5%±0.03) and the Ti coating group (109.8%±0.05) in the relevant growth rate(P0.05),with the toxicity grade of all in grade 0,which showed that Ta coating material had no inhibitory effect on L929 cell growth.The cellular adhesion and proliferation experiment showed that the cells cultured on the Ta coating were increased significantly than those cultured on Ti coating(P0.05),while there was no statistical difference between the Ta coating and HA coating(P0.05),which indicated that the Ta coating was much more suitable for cells to adhere and proliferate than the Ti coating was.[Conclusion]The present study demonstrated that the Ta coating exhibited suitable biocompatibility,and could be considered as a potential coating material for artificial prosthesis used in clinical applications.