Calcium phosphate coatings obtained by Nd:YAG laser cladding:: Physicochemical and biologic properties

The plasma spray (PS) technique is the most popular method commercially in use to produce calcium phosphate (CaP) coatings to promote fixation and osteointegration of the cementless prosthesis. Nevertheless, PS has some disadvantages, such as the poor coating-to-substrate adhesion, low mechanical strength, and brittleness of the coating. In order to overcome the drawbacks of plasma spraying, we introduce in this work a new method to apply a CaP coating on a Ti alloy using a well-known technique in the metallurgical field: laser surface cladding. The physicochemical characterization of the coatings has been carried out by means of X-ray diffraction (XRD), scanning electron microscopy (SEM), and energy dispersive X-ray analysis (EDX). The biologic properties of the coatings have been assessed in vitro with human osteoblast-like MG-63 cells. The overall results of this study affirm that the Nd:YAG laser cladding technique is a promising method in the biomedical field. (C) 2003 Wiley Periodicals, Inc.