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In spite of the success of prosthetic implants the materials used today may lead to destructive failures. Metallic corrosion processes, generation of wear-and-tear particles, immuno-reactions, bone re-absorption in the surrounding region of the implant and very slow development of a stable bone/prosthesis interface, may compromise the prosthesis survivability. Diamond is a new potential biomedical material to be studied due to its chemical inertness, extreme hardness, low coefficient of friction, and possibility to be used in any geometrical form by the chemical vapor deposition of sp3 carbon on suitable substrates. The purpose of this work was to investigate the bone interfaces of microcrystalline and nanocrystalline diamond surgically implanted on the lateral face of the femoral diaphysis of Wistar rats. The bone/diamond interfaces were evaluated 4 and 8 weeks after the surgery. Results are discussed in terms of osteogenesis and bone attachement to the implants. Morphological data obtained by scanning electron and histological results from optical microscopy analyses are presented. Preliminary results indicated excellent bone interaction to microcrystalline diamond and nanocrystalline diamond implants. |