Electron-induced surface modification of hydroxyapatite-coated implant

Here, the authors report on surface free energy modulation of a hydroxyapatite-coated titanium femoral implant that is performed by a newly-developed method using a low-energy electron irradiation. They observe pronounced increase of hydrophobicity of irradiated samples that occurs in several stages and is characterized by various mechanisms. Bacterial adhesion on electron modified hydroxyapatite samples is studied, by considering different approaches. The authors show that bacterial adherence is selective and depends on the surface free energy components, which were determined from detailed surface free energy analysis. The selective bacterial adhesion, together with the ability to define the surface energy properties, suggests that this newly-developed method opens an avenue for protection of implants from bacterial infections.