Laser Surface Texturing of Bulk Metallic Glass for Orthopaedic Application

Osteoarthritis in weight bearing joints, such as the hip and knee, is the primary indicator for orthopaedic intervention in the UK. Joint replacements remain the only viable treatment for osteoarthritis, however implant metallics exhibit insufficiencies in their physical properties, producing high implant failure rates. Bulk metallic glasses (BMGs) have unique physical properties (high elasticity, high wear resistance) which can improve integration between biomaterials and host tissue. Laser surface texturing (LST) allows tuning of distinct surface properties, promoting favourable clinical outcomes (enhanced osseointegration). Following a comprehensive literature review on LST of BMGs, this work presents an experimental outline to assess how laser input parameters influence functional surface properties, in particular wettability, free energy, corrosivity, and surface chemistry. Future work will investigate both the antimicrobial properties of LST BMGs, and their propensity to modulate the host inflammatory response, with the goal of optimising LST parameters enhanced osseointegration of the peri-implant surface.