Plasma sprayed coatings of hydroxylapatite

The technique of plasma spraying has been applied to deposit a thin, dense layer of hydroxylapatite onto a titanium substrate. Bond strength of such apatite coatings with the substrate have been measured, as well as the (absence of) influence of the coating process on fatigue properties of the substrate. Animal studies showed similar histological reactions to apatite coatings as to (well documented) apatite bulk materials.