Surface Properties of Cell-treated Polyethylene Terephthalate

Abstract

The materials used in artificial joints undergo degradation through fatigue and corrosive wear in human body. The lifetime for well-designed artificial joints like hip joints is at most 12 years and a patient will usually have two total joint replacements during his/her lifetime. Tissue engineering, an alternative to total joint implantation, is the replacement of damaged tissue with the tissue that is designed and constructed to meet the needs of the individual patient. In this study, polyethylene terephthalate (PET) in the form of overhead transparency films were investigated on their cell interactions and the tribological properties as an alternative tissue-engineering matrix. The base material of the transparency films is PET. Cell culture methods as well as atomic force microscope (AFM), contact angle goniometer, confocal microscope and universal tribotester were used to study the properties of the substrate materials and the interactions between the surface and the substrate materials. Results showed that cells grew on the substrate of the base materials of the PET. The tribological properties of the slides have been changed after being cell-treated.