Ti and Ti alloys are bioinert materials and two frequent problems associated with them are bacterial infection and lack of osteogenic potential for rapid bone integration. To overcome the problems, the present study incorporated strontium (Sr) and silver (Ag) simultaneously into porous TiO2 coatings through a single‐step technique, micro‐arc oxidation (MAO). Incorporation of Sr and Ag brought no significant changes to coating micromorphology and physicochemical properties, but endowed TiO2 coatings with both strong antibacterial activity and osteogenic ability. Antibacterial activity increased with Ag contents in the coatings. When Ag content reached 0.58 wt%, the coating showed both excellent short‐term (100.0%) and long‐term (77.6%) antibacterial activities. Sr/Ag‐containing coatings with 18.23 wt% Sr and 0.58 wt% Ag also presented good cytocompatibility for preosteoblast adhesion and proliferation, and promoted preosteoblast osteogenic differentiation both short‐termly and long‐termly. However, higher Ag content (1.29 wt%) showed toxic effects to preosteoblasts. In summary, MAO is a simple and effective way to incorporate Sr and Ag into porous TiO2 coatings and Sr/Ag‐containing TiO2 coating with 18.5 wt% Sr and 0.58 wt% Ag has both good osteogenic activity and strong antibacterial capability short‐termly and long‐termly. Therefore, such coatings are valuable for clinical application to strengthen osseointegration and long‐term high quality use of titanum implants.
A nanofin-based strain sensor, fabricated by transferring vertical CNTs to an Ecoflex substrate, has the advantages of high linearity and sensitivity and can detect both large and subtle motions.
Accurate motion feature extraction and recognition provide critical information for many scientific problems. Herein, a new paradigm for a wearable seamless multimode sensor with the ability to decouple pressure and strain stimuli and recognize the different joint motion states is reported. This wearable sensor is integrated into a unique seamless structure consisting of two main parts (a resistive component and a capacitive component) to decouple the different stimuli by an independent resistance-capacitance sensing mechanism. The sensor exhibits both high strain sensitivity (GF = 7.62, 0–140% strain) under the resistance mechanism and high linear pressure sensitivity (S = 3.4 kPa−1, 0–14 kPa) under the capacitive mechanism. The sensor can differentiate the motion characteristics of the positions and states of different joints with precise recognition (97.13%) with the assistance of machine learning algorithms. The unique integrated seamless structure is achieved by developing a layer-by-layer casting process that is suitable for large-scale manufacturing. The proposed wearable seamless multimode sensor and the convenient process are expected to contribute significantly to developing essential components in various emerging research fields, including soft robotics, electronic skin, health care, and innovative sports systems applications.
Titanium (Ti) and Ti alloys are widely used biomaterials, but they lack osteogenic capability for rapid bone integration. To improve osseointegration of Ti implants, TiO2 nanotubes were prepared using the anodizing oxidation technique, and strontium (Sr) combined with icariin (ICA) was loaded on TiO2 nanotube coatings. Cell adhesion and proliferation of MC3T3-E1 cells, alkaline phosphatase (ALP) activity, mineralization of extracellular matrix, and bone formation around titanium implants in ovariectomized rats, were examined separately. The results showed that compared with pure Ti, TiO2 and Sr-loaded TiO2 coatings, the coatings loaded with both Sr and ICA showed better effect on cell adhesion and proliferation, higher ALP activity and more red-stained mineralized nodules. Furthermore, more bone was formed around implants loaded with both Sr and ICA in osteoporotic rats. Therefore, coating with Sr and ICA is valuable for clinical application to strengthen the osseointegration of titanium implants, especially in osteoporotic patients.
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