X-ray micro-diffraction analysis of reconstructed bone at Zr prosthetic surface with sub-micrometre spatial resolution

Abstract

The purpose of the present investigation is to demonstrate the power of the x-ray micro-diffraction technique in biological studies. In particular the reported experiment concerns the study of the interface between a Zr prosthetic device implanted in a rat femur and the newly-formed bone, with a spatial resolution of 0.5 microm. The obtained results give interesting information on the Zr deformation and on the crystallographic phase, the grain size and the orientation of the new bone. Moreover the study reveals a marked difference in the structure of the reconstructed bone with respect to the native bone, which cannot be appreciated with other techniques.