Development of a medical implant coating with bioactive glass for temperature sensitive materials using a pulsed electron beam device

Summary form only given. The state of the art is the coating of metallic materials with hydroxyapatite in the field of orthopaedy to anchor the implant in the bone structure. Our intention is to create a coating on flexible temperature sensitive materials which is able to support the settlement of soft tissue cells, so that it is possible to have a fixed and closed catheter access to the human body, e.g. for peritoneal dialysis or drug delivering. To coat such sensitive materials at room temperature we have developed a new technological method by using a pulsed electron beam (channel spark, 500 MW/cm/sup 2/, 100 ns) which is focused on a target. Where the electron beam hits the target ablation occurs, generating molten droplets (the diameter is in the range of 100 nm), which are deposited on the implant material. Stoichiometrically different glass mixtures are used as target materials. The components of these so called bioactive glasses are SiO/sub 2/, Na/sub 2/O, CaO and P/sub 2/O/sub 3/ which can support fixation and proliferation of soft tissue cells. Coatings are made on silicone rubber, silicone rubber covered TiAlV alloy, and pure TiAlV alloy. The mechanical adhesion of the coating has been tested and very good results were obtained. First tested in simulated body fluids (Hanks´ solution) have confirmed the expected results.