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Abstract Ion beam etching has provided a system which can produce a controllable surface morphology in the micron range without altering surface chemistry or surface energy. PTFE (polytetrafluoroethylene) develops a surface texture having conical projections with average dimensions: height = 12 μm, base width = 4 μm, tip radius = 0.1 μm. Smooth and textured PTFE disks (1 cm diam. × 250 μm thick) were implanted subcutaneously into the dorsum of Sprague‐Dawley rats for time periods of 1 and 3 days and 1,2,3,4, and 8 weeks. Smooth control samples consisted of untreated surfaces and surfaces that were exposed to an ion beam environment producing a smooth surface. All smooth surfaces behaved identically by both histochemical and histological methods. Consequently, the ion beam environment had no effect on the soft tissue response. Textured surfaces, however, demonstrated increased cell adhesion and increased succinic dehydrogenase and acid phosphatase staining in the interfacial cells. Interfacial cells consisted of foreign body giant cells and macrophages. These macrophages possessed increases in the cytoplasmic‐to‐nuclear ratio, number and interdigitation of filopodia, and vacuolization as demonstrated by TEM. The textured surfaces also influence the kinetics of fibrous capsule formation. At 8 weeks, capsules associated with textured interfaces were reduced in thickness by 30% when compared to smooth surfaces. The results of this investigation demonstrate that the surface texture of an implant is a critical variable in determining the soft tissue response to a material.
Taylor et al. (Tue,) studied this question.