Biocompatibility studies of human fetal osteoblast cells cultured on gamma titanium aluminide.

Ti-48Al-2Cr-2Nb (at. %) (gammaTiAl), a gamma titanium aluminide alloy originally designed for aerospace applications, appears to have excellent potential for bone repair and replacement. The biological response to gammaTiAl implant is expected to be similar to other titanium-based biomaterials. Human fetal osteoblast cells were cultured on the surface of gammaTiAl and Ti-6Al-4V disks with variable surface roughness for both SEM and immunofluorescent analysis to detect the presence of collagen type I and osteonectin, proteins of the bone extracellular matrix. Qualitative results show that cell growth and attachment on gammaTiAl was normal compared to that of Ti-6Al-4V, suggesting that gammaTiAl is not toxic to osteoblasts. The presence of collagen type I and osteonectin was observed on both gammaTiAl and Ti-6Al-4V. The results obtained suggest gammaTiAl is biocompatible with the osteoblast cells.