Fractal Dimension and Texture Analysis in the Assessment of Experimental Laser-Induced Periodic Surface Structures (LIPSS) Dental Implant Surface—In Vitro Study Preliminary Report

• Main Authors: Barg, E. (Author), Cieśla-Niechwiadowicz, A. (Author), Dominiak, M. (Author), Gębarowski, T. (Author), Gedrange, T. (Author), Hadzik, J. (Author), Jurczyszyn, K. (Author), Kozakiewicz, M. (Author), Kubasiewicz-Ross, P. (Author), Simka, W. (Author), Szajna, A.T (Author), Szajna, E. (Author)
• Format: Article
• Language: English
• Published: MDPI 2022
• Subjects: Cell adhesion; Cell culture; Cells; Dental prostheses; Fractal dimension; fractal dimension analysis; Fractal dimension analysis; Implant surface; implant topography; Implant topography; In-vitro; laser surface; Laser surface; Laser-induced periodic surface structures; LIPSS; Medical applications; Periodic nanostructure; Sub-wavelength; Surface analysis; Surface roughness; texture analysis; Texture analysis; Textures; Topography; Vitro studies
• Online Access: View Fulltext in Publisher

 Laser-induced periodic surface structures (LIPSS) are the sub-wavelength periodic nanostructures generated by the femtosecond laser. Implant topography and its nanostructural changes can be important for biomedical applications. In order to compare the surface topography of different implants, appropriate mathematical and physical descriptive methods should be provided. The aim of the study was to evaluate the experimental LIPSS-based—Low Spatial Frequency LIPSS (LSFL) dental implant surfaces. Novel methods of surface analysis, such as Fractal Dimension Analysis and Texture Analysis, were compared to the standard surface roughness evaluation. Secondary, cell viability, and attachment tests were applied in order to evaluate the biological properties of the new titanium surface and to compare their correlation with the physical properties of the new surfaces. A Normal Human Dermal Fibroblast (NHDF) cytotoxicity test did not show an impact on the vitality of the cells. Our study has shown that the laser LIPSS implant surface modifications significantly improved the cell adhesion to the tested surfaces. We observed a strong correlation of adhesion and the growth of cells on the tested surface, with an increase in implant surface roughness with the best results for the moderately rough (2 µm) surfaces. Texture and fractal dimension analyses are promising methods to evaluate dental implants with complex geometry. © 2022 by the authors. Licensee MDPI, Basel, Switzerland.