Henry Tan

Abstract:

Implant-associated infection, a serious medical issue, is caused by the adhesion of bacteria to the surface of biomaterials; for this process, the surface roughness is an important property. Surface nanotopography of medical implant devices can control the extent of bacterial attachment by modifying the surface morphology; to this end, a model is introduced to facilitate the analysis of a nanoscale smooth surface subject to mechanical loading and in vivo corrosion. At nanometre scale rough surface promotes friction, hence reduces the mobility of the bacteria; this sessile environment expedites the biofilm growth. This manuscript derives the controlling equation for surface roughness evolution for metallic implant subject to in-plane stresses and predicts the in vivo roughness changes within 6 hours of continued mechanical loading at different stress level. This paper provides an analytic tool and theoretical information for surface nanotopography of medical implant devices.