The work examines the development of nanomaterials for orthopedic implant surfaces that contain nano-size "bumps." These bumps have been proven to improve the attachment of bone cells to implanted prosthetic devices, offering hope for the development of better hip and knee replacement devices. Conventional materials used in hip and knee replacements are relatively smooth, compared to natural bone and other tissues. The body often reacts to the smooth parts as it would any foreign material - it generates and covers the parts with a fibrous tissue intended to remove the unwanted material, thus resulting in scar tissue or even rejection.

Professor Webster tested both nanophase and conventional samples of titanium, titanium-aluminium-vanadium alloy and cobalt-chromium-molybdenum alloy. The process they used assured that the only difference between the conventional and nanophase samples was the surface roughness. For all three materials, osteoblasts adhered better to the rougher surface of the nanophase version than the conventional sample. For example, about 2300 out of 2500 bone cells in suspension adhered to the nanophase titanium alloy after three hours, compared with about 1300 cells adhering to the conventional alloy. According to Professor Webster, these materials containing the nanometer-scale bumps could be critical to keeping the body from rejecting artificial parts, offering hope in developing longer lasting and more natural implants.

Articles reporting Professor Webster's results have appeared in Medical Devices and Surgical Technology Week (Nov. 30, 2003); Biotech Week (Nov. 26, 2003); Health and Medicine Week (Nov. 24, 2003) and UPI Science News (Nov. 10, 2003).