The Use of Vacuum Plasma Surface Treatment to Improve the Hydrophilicity and Wettability of Bone Graft Substitutes and Resorbable Membranes: An In Vitro Study

<b>Background/Objectives:</b> We wished to evaluate in vitro whether vacuum plasma surface treatment of bone graft substitutes and resorbable membranes could improve the hydrophilicity and wettability of the tested materials. <b>Methods:</b> A total of 28 sterilized samples were considered for this research and divided into three groups. Six samples were used for the SEM-EDS analysis. The other 22 samples were randomly assigned into the test (plasma-treated, <i>n</i> = 11) and control (no treatment, <i>n</i> = 11) groups. Vacuum plasma surface treatment was performed in the test group before the SEM-EDS analysis using the ACTILINK reborn with a material holder (Plasmapp Co., Ltd., Daejeon, Republic of Korea). Plasmatreat (Plasmatreat, Steinhagen, Germany) inks were used to evaluate the differences in the hydrophilicity between the test and control groups. The outcome measures were the absorption time, wettability grade, and grade of decontamination after different time cycles. <b>Results:</b> After the vacuum plasma surface treatment, the absorption time of the inks statistically decreased in all of the subgroups (<i>p</i> < 0.05), while the wettability grade increased. The SEM-EDS analyses showed an increased reduction rate of carbon impurities after up to three vacuum plasma surface treatment cycles. Furthermore, the SEM-EDS analysis did not reveal any areas of damage caused by the multiple treatments. <b>Conclusions:</b> Within the limitations of this in vitro study, the vacuum plasma surface treatment increased the hydrophilicity and wettability of the tested biomaterials. Particle bone graft and bone blocks should be treated using longer time programs. Further well-conducted randomized clinical trials with sample size calculations are needed to confirm these preliminary results.