A synthetic hydroxyapatite coated porous alumina ocular orbital implant was developed by polymeric sponge method in order to overcome shortcoming of current coralline HA implant and to obtain secure attachment of extraocular muscles and fibrovascular in-growth. It allows porous alumina skeletal to be a load bearing member and synthetic HA coating layer to provide biocompatibility and long-term stability in an eye. It was found that slower heating rate of < 1°C/min at 280°C400°Cwas effective to achieve a dense porous alumina skeletal, and defects on as-sintered alumina skeletal was considerably decreased by the second coating of alumina slurry and sintering. The thickness of coated HA layer was about 20 µm with relatively good bonding to alumina skeletal. From in-vivo study, fibrovascularization was noted at periphery of the implant 2 weeks after implantation in all of the three groups, and to the center of the implant 4 and 12 weeks after implantation. This fibrovascularization was most predominant in 500 µm pore-sized group compared to the rest two groups. It is believed that HA coated porous alumina will be a good candidate for an artificial orbital implant with improved biocompatibility and long-term stability.

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