Effect of micro-grooving on the stress shielding of titanium: Experimental and numerical investigations

Abstract

Micron sizes grooves can control the cell settlement on the implant surface or be used to direct tissue generation at the implant/bone interface. The effect of shape, size and the type of material of the microgrooves on the mechanical stimulus transfer from the implant to bone at physiological loading is not known yet. Therefore, this study evaluated both experimentally and numerically the effect of surface modification on a titanium implant to the load transfer characteristics from implant to bone for examining stress shielding parameters. This study measured the effect of micron grooves on titanium to the mechanical stability of titanium using a rabbit model. This study also developed a finite element model based on the in vivo test model to examine the stress shielding parameters. The results showed that the mean values of fracture strength were significantly higher for grooved titanium samples (1.32 +/- 0.45 MPa, n = 3) compared to control samples (without any groove) (0.22 +/- 0.16 MPa, n=6) (P < 0.05). The load-displacement graph from the pull out tension tests was used to measure the frictional coefficient between Ti and bone from the FEA model. It was found from the FEA model that the average co-efficient of friction between titanium and bone was 0.50. Maximum equivalent stress along the interface of microgrooves on titanium was higher from groove area in compare to the non-groove area because of the change of the geometry along the groove. The microgrooves in the model have a significant effect on the stress transfer parameter between implant and adjoining bone. The unequal load sharing due to micro-grooving causes an increase in stiffness of the adjacent bone to the implant.