BACKGROUND Plasma of argon was demonstrated to improve protein and cell adhesion on implant surface. On the other hand, increased surface energy and hydrophilicity could potentially amplify the risks of implant surface contamination during clinical phases, risks that have not yet been evaluated in Literature. The aim of the present in vitro study was to verify if Plasma treatment could alter the implant surface characteristics and its ability to remain sterile. MATERIALS AND METHODS Implants from 9 brands were collected (n=11). One implant for each company was used for SEM surface analysis. To perform the microbiological analysis, ten implants from each company were used and randomly split by allocation either in test or control group. To replicate the surgical work flow, both test and control samples were left 60s in clinical environment. Bacterial growth analysis was performed. Optical density at 600nm was measured as readout of bacterial growth and colony forming unit (CFU) after 24h was evaluated. Statistical analysis was performed by using the Wilcoxon Mann Whitney test. A p-value lower than 0.05 was considered significant. RESULTS SEM analysis revealed different categories of implant surface roughness. The optical density confirmed a readout of bacterial growth between 4 and 7 with no significant differences within groups. The number of CFU/ml for each measured sample (test and control) was lower than 102 and failed to present significant differences. CONCLUSION Surface activation using plasma of argon did not affect the degree of implant contamination, allowing to maintain a substantial sterility of the implant independently of its morphology. This may allow in the next future the use of bioactivation through plasma of argon to exploit the superhydrophilicity deriving from this biophysical process.

中文翻译：

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使用氩等离子体的表面生物功能化可以改变牙科植入物的微生物学和形貌表面分析？

背景技术已证明氩等离子体可改善植入物表面上的蛋白质和细胞粘附。另一方面，增加的表面能和亲水性可能会放大临床阶段植入物表面污染的风险，这些风险尚未在文献中进行评估。本体外研究的目的是验证等离子体处理是否可以改变植入物的表面特性及其保持无菌的能力。材料与方法收集了9个品牌的植入物（n = 11）。每个公司使用一个植入物进行SEM表面分析。为了进行微生物分析，使用了每个公司的十个植入物，并按测试组或对照组随机分配。为了复制外科工作流程，将测试样品和对照样品都留在临床环境中60s。进行细菌生长分析。测量600nm处的光密度作为细菌生长的读数，并评估24小时后的菌落形成单位（CFU）。使用Wilcoxon Mann Whitney检验进行统计分析。低于0.05的p值被认为是重要的。结果SEM分析显示出不同种类的植入物表面粗糙度。光密度确认了4至7之间细菌生长的读数，各组之间无显着差异。每个测量样品（测试和对照）的CFU / ml数均低于102，且未出现明显差异。结论使用氩等离子体进行的表面活化不影响植入物的污染程度，从而可以保持植入物的基本无菌状态，而与其形态无关。