Backscattered electron imaging and electron backscattered diffraction in the study of bacterial attachment to titanium alloy structure

Abstract

The application of secondary electron (SE) imaging, backscattered electron imaging (BSE) and electron backscattered diffraction (EBSD) was investigated in this work to study the bacterial adhesion and proliferation on a commercially pure titanium (cp Ti) and a Ti6Al4V alloy (Ti 64) with respect to substrate microstructure and chemical composition. Adherence of Gram-positive Staphylococcus epidermidis 11047 and Streptococcus sanguinis GW2, and Gram-negative Serratia sp. NCIMB 40259 and Escherichia coli 10418 was compared on cp Ti, Ti 64, pure aluminium (Al) and vanadium (V). The substrate microstructure and the bacterial distribution on these metals were characterised using SE, BSE and EBSD imaging. It was observed that titanium alloy-phase structure, grain boundaries and grain orientation did not influence bacterial adherence or proliferation at microscale. Adherence of all four strains was similar on cp Ti and Ti 64 surfaces whilst inhibited on pure Al. This work establishes a nondestructive and straight-forward statistical method to analyse the relationship between microbial distribution and metal alloy structure.

Biofilm formation on polyetheretherketone and titanium surfaces

“…In the present study, we saw similar amounts of bacterial growth on both cp-Ti and Ti6Al4V for the initial colonizers S. sanguinis, S. oralis, and S. gordonii. This was expected because these two materials have similar roughness and wettability (Mabboux, Ponsonnet, Morrier, Jaffrezic, & Barsotti, 2004) and is consistent with results on S. sanguinis reported by Wang et al (2018). However, there was significantly increased growth of E. faecalis on the cp-Ti compared with the other three surfaces.…”

“…They suggest that the reduced attachment of P. gingivalis on Ti6Al4V could be explained by the antimicrobial effect of vanadium, as reported by Tousley, Wren, Towler, and Mellott (2012). However, Wang et al (2018) observed higher adhesion of E. coli, S. epidermidis, and S. sanguinis to pure V compared with pure Al. To date, the limited number of in vitro studies comparing bacterial growth on cp-Ti and Ti6Al4V show inconsistent results, depending on the bacterial species and study design.…”

“…This was expected because these two materials have similar roughness and wettability (Mabboux, Ponsonnet, Morrier, Jaffrezic, & Barsotti, ) and is consistent with results on S . sanguinis reported by Wang et al (). However, there was significantly increased growth of E .…”

“…gingivalis on Ti6Al4V could be explained by the antimicrobial effect of vanadium, as reported by Tousley, Wren, Towler, and Mellott (). However, Wang et al () observed higher adhesion of E . coli , S .…”

The Preparation and Properties of Multilayer Cu-MTa2O5 Composite Coatings on Ti6Al4V for Biomedical Applications

“…During operations, bacteria will adhere to the surface of the implant, then propagate and form biofilms, resulting in postoperative infection, and in severe cases resulting in amputation and even death [9,10,11]. Moreover, the Ti6Al4V alloy itself has no bactericidal activity, but the titanium alloy with a vanadium-rich phase can even attract the adhesion of bacteria [12]. Therefore, its application in clinical research on improving the anticorrosion and antibacterial performance of Ti6Al4V alloy has become a significant challenge.…”