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Figure 3. Healing at the bone-implant interface. Schematic representations of Ti-6Al-4V alloy and BioPin implants, and photomicrographs of these implants after placement (below). At post-surgical d5, longitudinal sections through (A) the Ti-6Al-4V implant and the (B,C) BioPin implant show evidence (by Trichrome staining) of new bone formation (arrowheads). (D–F) Bone formation around the implants was increased at d7. (G–I) Bone encasing the implants underwent remodeling until only a thin shell remained in the bone marrow cavity. A schematic drawing representing a direct interface and a minimal gap interface around an implant. Areas in the black box and the red box are illustrated on the tissue sections stained with Safranin-O Fast green (SO/FG) (J–M) and Trichrome (TC) (N–O). (J) On d3, the direct bone-implant interface was not populated by cells, whereas in (K), the gap interface was filled with a fibrous hematoma (bracket). (L) By d28, new bone was juxtaposed to the implant (arrowheads indicate stained nuclei of new osteoblasts), while in the gap (M), a new bone interface has been created by the mineralization of the fibrous matrix (bracket), and stained nuclei distinguish new osteoblasts from old osteocytes. Scale bar in A and corresponding magnifications = 0.5 mm; C and other high-magnification images = 50 microns. (See color version of this Fig. in the online APPENDIX.)
