Exploring a new approach for regenerative medicine: Ti-doped polycrystalline diamond layers as bioactive platforms for osteoblast-like cells growth

This study explores the feasibility to use electroconductive Ti-doped polycrystalline diamond layers as scaffolds for tissue engineering. The synthesis of the diamond–based materials is accomplished in a HFCVD reactor where Ti(IV) acetyl acetonate powders are delivered by N2 fluxes to the growing diamond phase. In-depth investigations (Raman spectroscopy, SEM, AFM, XRD, XPS) allowed the characterization of the morphological/structural/compositional features and the properties of charge transport (KPFM, I-V) induced in the diamond layers by the incorporation of Ti-species. The bioactivity of the Ti-doped diamond surface was verified investigating the growth of MG-63 osteoblast-like cells by using MTT assays and confocal microscopy. The study evidenced a net increase of cell replication rate on diamond scaffolds after 4 days of incubation. After 6-days incubation, the cell growth on the Ti-doped diamond scaffolds increased up to 150% compared with the reference polystyrene tissue culture vessel, with a dominant presence of cells in active division. The cell behavior is discussed and related to the structural and functional surface properties of the Ti-diamond systems, acting as bioactive platforms able to offer an extremely beneficial environment for cell proliferation and viability.