In vivo antibacterial property of Ti-Cu sintered alloy implant

In-vivo antibacterial property of Ti-10Cu sintered alloy was investigated in comparison with pure titanium (cpTi) by implanting the alloys with S. aureus suspension in the muscles of rabbits. The general appearance, the white blood cell (WBC) number, the bacteria number were checked and the pathological examination were analyzed. It has been shown that serious inflammation at day 4 and fester at day 14 were observed after implantation in ep-Ti group while only mild infection was observed at day 4 in the case of Ti-10Cu implants. Bacterial incubation results have also shown that lots of S. aureus were found in cp-Ti group at all intervals while only several bacteria at day 1 and day 4 and no bacteria after 7 days postimplantation can be found in Ti-10Cu group. All these results demonstrate the strong in vivo antibacterial property of Ti-10Cu alloy. The strong antibacterial property suggests that Ti-10Cu alloy might have potential application in orthopedic surgery and dental implant to reduce the implant-related infection or inflammation.