This thesis documents the work of Andrew I. M. Greer undertaken for the fulfilment of the requirements for the Degree of Doctor of Philosophy. The project, funded by the EPSRC and MRC, is to develop a nanofabrication processing strategy compatible with titanium based orthopaedic implants. Such a development will facilitate the translation from current and historical in vitro analysis of cell-stimulating nanotopographical cues to in vivo studies upon an implant relevant material. The work presented opens by summarising the social motives and consequences before contextualising the project aims with reference to existing approaches in the field. The thesis progresses through a series of different nanofabrication approaches until an effective strategy satisfying the goals of the project is devised. Thereafter the strategy is explored with its results characterised from a material level through to a biological level. Ultimately the primary goal of the project is realised through the development of novel sol-gel chemistry capable of retaining a nanopattern and transforming into titania, the natural composition at the surface of a titanium based implant. Furthermore, nanofeatures previously too stringent to fabricate for a comprehensive biological study are readily achievable using the documented strategy and fundamental studies have been carried out which indicate that the features concerned are highly effective at up-regulating early indicators of bone formation.
| Identifer | oai:union.ndltd.org:bl.uk/oai:ethos.bl.uk:631058 |
| Date | January 2014 |
| Creators | Greer, Andrew I. M. |
| Publisher | University of Glasgow |
| Source Sets | Ethos UK |
| Detected Language | English |
| Type | Electronic Thesis or Dissertation |
| Source | http://theses.gla.ac.uk/5756/ |
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