An investigation of the effects of hydroxyapatite coatings on the fixation strength of cortical screws

Hydroxyapatite (HA) are commonly applied to orthopaedic implants for acceleration of osteointegration and so overcoming the loosening problems such as in cortical screws. Electrophoretic deposition (EPD) of hydroxyapatite was applied for coating of cortical screws in this work. The effects of hydroxyapatite-coated and uncoated cortical screws on insertion and extraction torque were investigated through in vivo experiments. Three groups of screws were undertaken: first group with no coating, second group coated with HA and the third group coated with HA + interlayer, a synthetic calcium silicate compound. Five sheep were operated, and 60 cortical (20 × 3) screws from those of groups were implanted in cortical femurs to observe the effect of HA and interlayer on screws. Results show that as an alternative to plasma spray coating method, the EPD process enables to produce a quick, easy, cheap and uniform adjustable coating layer. Also from biomechanical and SEM examinations, HA coating by EPD method of cortical screws resulted in extremely improved fixation with reduced risk of loosening problem.