Patent ID: 8518420

Claim:
A method for growing bone cells, comprising the steps of: (a) anodizing a titanium substrate to form an array of titanium dioxide nanotubes on a surface of the titanium substrate; (b) subjecting the anodized titanium substrate to a radio frequency plasma discharge to chemically modify the array of titanium dioxide nanotubes formed on the surface of the titanium substrate; (c) seeding bone cells onto the surface of the titanium substrate that has an array of titanium dioxide nanotubes thereon after the subjecting step; and (d) incubating the seeded bone cells for a period of time effective for the cells to grow and proliferate, wherein the plasma discharge comprises an ionized gas selected from the group consisting of oxygen gas, nitrogen gas, a mixture of oxygen gas and nitrogen gas, and helium gas; and wherein the radio frequency of the plasma discharge is about 13.56 MHz.