Ti-6Al-4V alloy is widely used as an implant material because of its good biocompatibility and good mechanical property compared with commercial pure titanium. Otherwise, toxicity of aluminum and vanadium in vivo has been reported. Ti-8Ta-3Nb alloy is recently developed in the R&D Center for Ti and Special Alloys and it was reported that this alloy has high mechanical strength, no cytotoxicity and similar biocompatibility to commercial pure titanium, but many studies are needed for its clinical use. In these experiment, we carried out different surface treatment on each Ti-8Ta-3Nb alloy disks, then cultured cell on it and assessed biological response.

cpTi, Ti-6Al-4V, Ti-8Ta-3Nb alloy disks were prepared and carried out sandblasting and acid etching (SLA) or alkali-heat treatment (AH) on the Ti-8Ta-3Nb alloy disks. We cultured primary rat calvarial cells on each surface and assessed early cell attachment and proliferation by scanning electron microscopy, cell proliferation, alkaline phosphatase activity.

The rates of cell proliferation on the cpTi, Ti-8Ta-3Nb AH disks were higher than others (p<0.05) and alkaline phosphatase activity was significantly enhanced on the Ti-8Ta-3Nb AH disks (p<0.05).

Most favorable cell response was shown on the Ti-8Ta-3Nb AH surfaces. It is supposed that alkali-heat treatment of the Ti-8Ta-3Nb alloy could be induced earlier bone healing and osseointegration than smooth surface.