Abstract :
In surgical disciplines, where bones have to be repaired, augmented or improved, bone substitutes are essential.
Therefore, an interest has dramatically increased in application of synthetic bone grafts. As various interactions
among cells, surrounding tissues and implanted biomaterials always occur at the interfaces, the surface properties
of the implants are of the paramount importance in determining both the biological response to implants and the
material response to the physiological conditions. Hence, a surface engineering is aimed to modify both the
biomaterials, themselves, and biological responses through introducing desirable changes to the surface properties
of the implants but still maintaining their bulk mechanical properties. To fulfill these requirements, a special class of
artificial bone grafts has been introduced in 1976. It is composed of various mechanically stable (therefore, suitable
for load bearing applications) biomaterials and/or bio-devices with calcium orthophosphate coatings, films and
layers on their surfaces to both improve interactions with the surrounding tissues and provide an adequate
bonding to bones. Many production techniques of calcium orthophosphate coatings, films and layers have been
already invented and new promising techniques are continuously investigated. These specialized coatings, films and
layers used to improve the surface properties of various types of artificial implants are the topic of this review.
Keywords :
Calcium orthophosphates , Hydroxyapatite , Coatings , Layers , Films , Surface , Interface
