Hydroxyapatite (HA), a bioceramic widely adopted within the medical implant industry, is the most successful artificial osteoconductive coating available. A HA ThinKote not only provides a better type of HA surface for orthopaedic, spinal, trauma fixation and dental implants, the CoBlast process also offers a more efficient & simpler pathway than current application methods - in particular plasma spraying.
A Chemically Bonded & Abrasive Particulate-Free Surface
Independent Transmission Electron Microscopy (TEM) analysis has confirmed the complete replacement of the oxide layer of Grade 5 titanium substrates with a chemically bonded, fully crystalline HA surface that is free from abrasive process particulates. In fact, EnBio adopts a ‘belt and braces’ approach towards medical applications, uniquely using a sintered and biocompatible version of HA as an abrasive . This marks a change from the use of Alumina as a blasting abrasive, a practice widely used in the surface preparation required for current implant coating methods. Residual Alumina particulates, if not removed by additional processing, can lead to metalosis and 3rd body wear issues of the implant.
No Thermal Input Into Either The Substrate or HA
CoBlast is an ambient temperature and pressure process offering significant overhead and complexity process advantages over traditional plasma spraying. This also translates into better patient outcomes as the absence of any applied thermal input preserves the structure of the HA. It has been demonstrated in both scientific literature and in clinical trials that a fully crystalline HA coating provides better cell adhesion and, most significantly, better promotes beneficial lamellar bone formation around the implant – necessary for long-term implant stability. Clinical trials have established a greater than 100% improvement in cell adhesion compared to traditional plasma sprayed HA coatings.
A Surface Modification Rather Than A Coating – ThinKotes Cannot, Will Not Delaminate
The orthopaedic industry has been plagued with the in vivo delamination of relatively thick HA coatings from the implant. A HA ThinKote is a chemically bonded surface modification rather than an overlaid coating – thick enough to be functionally osteoconductive, yet thin (circa 2 microns) enough, and chemically bonded, to completely remove the potential for delamination.
CoBlast Process Preserves Substrate Topography
Due to their inherent thinness, EnBio's HA ThinKote is conformal to the underlying substrate topography – often engineered with complex geometries, such as trabecular surfaces, aimed at maximising post-implantation cell and bone fixation.
Ambient Temperature Process Allows For Customisable Coating Characteristics
As there is no thermal input into the CoBlast process, there is no crystalline structure change incurred due to the process – unlike current coating practices. Therefore, surfaces which require a particular mix of crystalline and amorphous features are easily and consistently applied. This is of benefit for dental implants which require an amorphous structure to provide initial implant adhesion whilst relying on a crystalline coating for long term stability.Additionally, fatique strength gains of over 20% have been achieved in hip joint stems.
Process Offers Significant Cost And Efficiency Savings
CoBlast combines two traditional processes in one i.e. preparation and surface deposition, and requires no further post-coating cleaning or etching to remove abrasive particulates.As the two processes are performed simultaneously, there are no sequencing issues to avoid oxide regrowth.