Characterization of Nd: Yag Laser Radiation Effects on Ti6Al4V Physico-Chemical Properties: An In Vivo Study

Abstract

The effect of a Nd: YAG laser (1064 nm) has been studied on Ti6Al4V alloy in terms of optical and physical parameters for biomedical applications. The superior surface microhardness hardness (i.e. 377 VHN) is attributed to grain refinement associated with laser melting and rapid solidification. The electrochemical property, mainly pitting corrosion resistance, has been carried out in Hanks salt balanced physiological solution using standard potentiodynamic polarization testing. At the optimium laser treating fluence (140 Jcm-2), the EDX spectroscopy showed a decrease of about 30% in the vanadium and the contact angle measurements also indicated an improved surface wettability seen in the characteristics with a contact angle of 35°. Finally, Cell spreading on the implanted specimens was analyzed by SEM and their condition in a specific area was studied for 10 cells for three separate regions on the same specimen using Image J Program software. The in vivo tests provided some useful clinical and pathological information regarding tissue response to the implants with different surface topography.