Background: Polyetheretherketone (PEEK) is a promising implant material due to its superior biomechanical strength. However, due to its hydrophobic nature and lack of cellular adhesion properties, it has poor integration with bone tissue. Methods: A fractional CO2 laser was used with various parameters for surface texturing of PEEK substrate to enhance its surface properties. An optical microscope and field-emission scanning electron microscope (FESEM) were used to examine the surface morphology of untextured and laser-textured samples. Energy dispersive X-ray spectroscopy (EDX) was performed to determine the effect of the laser on the microstructure of PEEK. Surface microroughness, atomic force microscopy (AFM), and wettability were investigated. Results: There were significant increases in microroughness, nanoroughness, surface area ratio, and wettability after laser texturing with no change in the elemental composition. The best results were obtained by using 400 µs laser pulse duration with a dot separation distance of 0.2 mm and a 60° staggered dots pattern. Conclusions: Laser surface texturing of PEEK implant material by fractional CO2 laser is an easy and fast method of introducing patterned topographical features with no need for additional devices. With further investigations, this method of PEEK modification might have the potential to be used in the implant field.
Laser assisted skin wound closure offers many distinct advantages over conventional closure
techniques. The objective of this in vitro experimental study, carried out at the Institute of Laser for
Postgraduate Studies/Baghdad University, was to determine the effectiveness of 980 nm diode laser in
welding of human skin wounds. Multiple 3-4 cm long full thickness incisions in a specimen of human
skin obtained from the discarded panniculus of an Abdominoplasty operation were tried to be laser
welded using a 4 mm spot diameter laser beam from a 980 nm diode laser at different laser parameters
and modes of action. The tensile strength at the weld site was analyzed experimentally. Although laser
assisted wound welding did
There has been a growing interest in the use of chaotic techniques for enabling secure communication in recent years. This need has been motivated by the emergence of a number of wireless services which require the channel to provide low bit error rates (BER) along with information security. The aim of such activity is to steal or distort the information being conveyed. Optical Wireless Systems (basically Free Space Optic Systems, FSO) are no exception to this trend. Thus, there is an urgent necessity to design techniques that can secure privileged information against unauthorized eavesdroppers while simultaneously protecting information against channel-induced perturbations and errors. Conventional cryptographic techniques are not designed
... Show MoreThe goal of our study is to perform detailed multiband surface photometry of the spiral galaxy NGC 4448 and its brightest star-forming regions. The structure and composition of the stellar population in the surface brightness galaxy NGC 4448 was studied using BVR CCD photometry. The observations were obtained on the 1.88 m optical telescope of Kottamia Astronomical Observatory (KAO), Egypt. A two-dimensional decomposition of the galaxy bulge and disk components is carried out. A powerful star forming region is observed near the galactic center. Based on the positions of the various components of the galaxy in two color diagrams. From the observations, the surface brightness profiles, Ellipticity profiles, position angle profiles and colo
... Show MoreEpoxy resin has many chemical features and mechanical properties, but it has a small elongation at break, low impact strength and crack propagation resistance, i.e. it exhibits a brittle behavior. In the current study, the influence of adding kaolin with variable particle size on the mechanical properties (flexural modulus E, toughness Gc, fracture toughness Kc, hardness HB, and Wear rate WR) of epoxy resin was evaluated. Composites of epoxy with varying concentrations (0, 10, 20, 30, 40 weights %) of kaolin were prepared by hand-out method. The composites showed improved (E, Gc, Kc, HB, and WR) properties with the addition of filler. Also, similar results were observed with the decrease in particle size. In addition, in this study, mult
... Show MoreTo verify the influence of magnetic flux on the characteristics of SAE 10W-30 gasoline engine oil when the engine oil is exposed to different magnetic fluxes 0, 6, 9, and 13 Volt. The following oil characteristics were measured: viscosity at 40 and 100 °C, and total acid number (TAN) mg KOH/g. The research was carried out in a completely randomized design with three replications for each treatment under the 5% probability level to compare the means of the treatments. The results of the experiment showed that there were significant differences in the studied properties when the engine oil was exposed to the above magnetic fluxes and, inversely, especially the magnetic flux of 13 Volt, which led to a decrease in the viscosity of the oils at
... Show MoreThe petrophysical characteristics of five wells drilled into the Sa'di Formation in the Halfaya oil field were evaluated using IP software to determine a reservoir and explore hydrocarbon reserve zones. The lithology was evaluated using the M-N cross-plot method. The diagram showed that the Sa'di Formation was mainly composed of calcite (represented by the limestone region) is the main mineral in the Sa′di Reservoir. Using a density-neutron cross plot to identify the lithology showed that the formation mainly consists of limestone with minor shale. Gamma-ray logs were employed to calculate the shale quantity in each well. The porosity at weak hole intervals was calculated using a sonic log and neutron-density log at the reservoir
... Show MoreThe influence of silver doped n-type polycrystalline CdTe film with thickness of 200 nm and rate deposition of 0.3 nm.s -1 prepared under high vacuum using thermal co-evaporation technique on its some structural and electrical properties was reported. The X- ray analysis showed that all samples are polycrystalline and have the cubic zinc blend structure with preferential orientation in the [111] direction. Films doping with impurity percentages (2, 3, and 4) %Ag lead to a significant increase in the carrier concentration, so it is found to change from 23.493 108 cm -3 to 59.297 108 cm -3 for pure and doped CdTe thin films with 4%Ag respectively. But films doping with impurity percentages above lead to a significant decrease in the electrica
... Show More57 isolates of Mycobacterium tuberculosis and Mycobacterium bovis were identified; they were isolated from different clinical sources which included sputum, bronchial wash, abscess, pleural fluid, gastric fluid, eye fluid, and CSF, also urine and ear swab. This investigation was carried out on 198 patient attended National Reference Laboratory for T.B during September 2009. Also the study declared that the ratio of separation of this bacterium from male was (67.6%) and it’s higher than the ratio of separation this bacterium from females which was (32.3%). The susceptibility of Mycobacterium tuberculosis to melatonin was evaluated. Many concentrati
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