Engineering the Interface: Nanodiamond Coating on 3D-Printed Titanium Promotes Mammalian Cell Growth and Inhibits Staphylococcus aureus Colonization

Additively
manufactured selective laser melted titanium (SLM-Ti)
opens the possibility of tailored medical implants for patients. Despite
orthopedic implant advancements, significant problems remain with
regard to suboptimal osseointegration at the interface between the
implant and the surrounding tissue. Here, we show that applying a
nanodiamond (ND) coating onto SLM-Ti scaffolds provides an improved
surface for mammalian cell growth while inhibiting colonization of Staphylococcus aureus bacteria. Owing to the simplicity
of our methodology, the approach is suitable for coating SLM-Ti geometries.
The ND coating achieved 32 and 29% increases in cell density of human
dermal fibroblasts and osteoblasts, respectively, after 3 days of
incubation compared with the uncoated SLM-Ti substratum. This increase
in cell density complements an 88% reduction in S.
aureus detected on the ND-coated SLM-Ti substrata.
This study paves a way to create facile antifouling SLM-Ti structures
for biomedical implants.