Evo 50 xvp

A total of twenty titanium dental implant specimens were considered in the present study. Six different types of dental implants were assigned to groups named A–F (Figure 8), based on the characteristics of the thread profile shape. The different thread design parameters measured through scanning electron microscopy (SEM) (Zeiss EVO 50 XVP; Carl Zeiss AG, Oberkochen, Germany) are summarized in Table 1. All the specimens were part of different human studies that have already been published, where the specific surgical protocols and details about the manufacturer, length, and diameter of the implants can be found [10 (link),11 (link),12 (link),13 (link),14 (link),15 (link)]. All the implants were immediately loaded and left in function for 6 months, before their retrieval.
The present study was conducted in full compliance with ethical principles, including those of the World Medical Association Declaration of Helsinki. The patients involved in each study protocol gave their written informed consent [10 (link),11 (link),12 (link),13 (link),14 (link),15 (link)]. Protocols were approved by the Ethics Committee of University of Chieti (Project identification codes: 2604, January 2006; 01, April 2007; 2701, year 2008).

After cleansing in an ultrasonic bath of distilled water, the specimens underwent critical point drying in Emitech K 850 (Emitech Ltd., Ashford, Kent, UK) and were then mounted onto aluminium stubs, sputter gold coated in Emitech K 550 (Emitech Ltd., Ashford, Kent, UK) and analysed via a scanning electron microscope (SEM) (Zeiss EVO 50 XVP, Carl Zeiss SMY Ltd., Cambridge, UK) equipped with a LaB₆ electron gun and an Everhart–Thornley tetra solid-state detector (4Q-BSD). SEM operating conditions included 5.0 kV accelerating voltage, 8.5 mm working distance and a 100 pA probe current for observations under variable pressure (0.75 torr). The images were captured with a line average technique using 20 scans.

Sample morphology studies were performed on Zeiss EVO 50 XVP scanning electron microscope (Carl Zeiss, Germany) in variable pressure mode. This mode is suitable for nonconducting and gas-emitting samples. In the present study, the pressure in the working chamber was 20–30 Pa. For image acquisition, tetra-solid-state BSE detector (reflected electron detector) was used. Samples were visualized using an acceleration voltage of 20.0 kV. Image-Pro Plus 6.0.0.260 and Origin 8.1 software packages were used to build distribution curves.

The magnetization of the obtained materials was measured by means of a LakeShore 7404 vibrating sample magnetometer (Lake Shore Cryotronics Inc., Westerville, OH, USA) registering the hysteresis loop of the samples at room temperature with a magnetic field sweeping between −20,000 and 20,000 Oe.
The morphology of the materials was investigated by electron microscopy measurements using a high-resolution transmission microscope JEOL JEM 3010 (JEOL USA, Inc., 11 Dearborn Road, Peabody, MA, USA) working at 300 kV equipped with a LaB₆ source and a scanning microscope ZEISS EVO 50 XVP (Carl Zeiss AG, Oberkochen, Germany) equipped with LaB₆ source and a secondary electron detector. The samples prior to the SEM investigation were sputtered with ~20 nm of a gold layer in order to avoid charging effects using a Bal-tec SCD050 sputter coater (Leica Biosystems Inc., Buffalo Grove, IL, USA).

A Scanning Electron Microscope (EVO 50 XVP; Zeiss, Jena, Germany) was used to image the surfaces of the scaffold; the specimens were sputtered with 4–8 nm of gold and then mounted on carbon tape dots [43 (link)].