Implant-associated infections can cause serious complications including osteomyelitis and soft tissue damage, and are a great problem due to the emergence of antibiotic resistant bacteria such as methicillin-resistant Staphylococcus aureus (MRSA). In some cases, antibiotic-loaded beads which release the antibiotic locally have been used, however such systems may lead to the development of antibiotic-resistant bacteria, as seen with gentamicin-loaded beads. Hence modifying the actual metal implant surface to inhibit or reduce initial bacterial adhesion may be an alternative option. This study describes the visualisation and quantification of S. aureus adhering to standard micro-rough 'commercially pure' titanium (TS) and Ti-6Al-7Nb (NS) surfaces, electropolished titanium (TE) and Ti-6Al-7Nb (NE) surfaces, and standard electropolished stainless steel (SS). Qualitative and quantitative results of S. aureus on the different surfaces correlated with each other, and showed significantly more live bacteria on NS than on the other surfaces, whilst there was no significant difference between the amount of bacteria on TS, TE, NE and SS surfaces. The results showed a significant decrease in the amount of bacteria adhering to the NE compared to standard NS surfaces. Such an observation suggests that the NS surface encouraged S. aureus adhesion, and could lead to higher infection rates in vivo. Hence electropolishing Ti-6Al-7Nb surfaces could be advantageous in osteosynthesis areas in minimising bacterial adhesion and lowering the rate of infection.

No abstract

This review discusses some of the most common polymer scaffold fabrication techniques used for tissue engineering applications. Although the field of scaffold fabrication is now well established and advancing at a fast rate, more progress remains to be made, especially in engineering small diameter blood vessels and providing scaffolds that can support deep tissue structures. With this in mind, we introduce two new lithographic methods that we expect to go some way to addressing this problem.

Prestorage leucocyte depletion by Leukotrap WB filters improves biophysical properties of erythrocyte concentrates throughout storage, which is, however, outweighed by a time-dependent echinocytic shape transformation and deterioration of these properties.

Stainless steel (SS), titanium (cpTi), and Ti-6Al-7Nb (TAN) are frequently used metals in orthopedic internal fracture fixation. Although reactivity to SS and cpTi are noted in reference, the soft tissue compatibility of TAN has not been comprehensively studied. This study focuses on the in vitro soft tissue compatibility of TAN in comparison to SS and cpTi using a human fibroblast model. The industrial standard surface finishes of these three materials vary considerably in view of their use in similar applications. To distinguish between material parameters of topography and chemistry, we have included electropolished (e.p) counterparts of the standard preparations of cpTi and TAN in the study (standard SS is e.p). All materials were characterized using atomic force microscopy, profilometry, and scanning electron microscopy. Our findings demonstrate that cell morphology and growth rate was similar for SS, and e.p. cpTi and TAN, with cells well spread and forming a confluent monolayer by 10 days. Cell growth on standard cpTi was similar to the electropolished samples; however, they showed a less spread morphology with more filopodia and surface ruffling present. Cell morphology on standard TAN was rounded or elongated and proliferation was inhibited at all time points, with possible cell necrosis by day 10. We found evidence of endocytosis of beta-phase particles originating from the standard TAN surface. We believe that the particle uptake coupled with the characteristic surface topography contribute to the noncytocompatibility of fibroblasts on standard TAN.