the invention provides a method for the production of endo - osseous implants or medical prostheses , hereinafter method of the invention , said endo - osseous implants or medical prostheses being manufactured from a base material , by means of a surface ion implantation treatment of , at least , an element selected among the elements c , o , h , xe , ar , he , kr , ne and / or a compound which comprises one or more of said elements , in which an ion beam energy is used of between 1 kev and 1 mev , in which the process of ion implantation is carried out in a vacuum chamber with a vacuum better than 10 − 3 millibars and a dose is applied of , at least , 10 15 ions / cm 2 . the term endo - osseous implants or medical prostheses , as it is employed in this description includes whatever endo - osseous implant or prostheses intended to be in contact with living tissues or cells , or with corporal or biological fluids . as base material use can be made of any metal , metallic alloy , biocompatible material , and mixtures thereof , employed in the elaboration of endo - osseous implants and / or medical prostheses , such as those materials which satisfy the standard une - en iso 10993 . in a particular embodiment , said base material is selected among titanium ; alloys of titanium , aluminium and vanadium , for example , ti - 6al - 4v ; alloys of chromium and cobalt ( cr — co ); alloys of cobalt , chromium and molybdenum ( co — cr — mo ), stainless steel , for example , aisi 316 stainless steel , etc . the method of the invention comprises the implantation of , at least , an ion of an element selected among the elements c , o , h , xe , ar , he , kr , ne and / or of an ion of a compound which comprises one or more of said elements , for example , co , co n , cxhy , etc . ( where n is an integer between 1 and 2 , and x and y are integers between 1 and 100 .) the method of the invention is carried out , advantageously , in a treatment or vacuum chamber with a vacuum level of , at least , 10 − 3 millibars . ion implantation , according to the method of the invention , can be carried out , optionally , in presence of a residual atmosphere in said vacuum chamber . this residual atmosphere can consist both in the presence of oxygen and of residual organic compounds , for example , organic compounds produced by the evaporation of an organic compound during the process of ion implantation in the treatment chamber . the implanted ionic doses can vary within a wide range depending on the nature of the implanted ion , being , in general , greater than 10 15 ions / cm 2 with the object of providing the endo - osseous implant or the medical prostheses with the necessary properties to achieve a significant enhancement of the osseointegration capacity . the process of ion implantation according to the method of the invention can be carried out over a wide temperature range , for example , it can be carried out at a temperature between − 120 ° c . and 800 ° c ., preferably , between ambient temperature and 250 ° c . in a particular embodiment , with the object of favouring mechanisms for diffusion , precipitation or transformation of compounds , the process of ion implantation according to the method of the invention can be carried out at a temperature of between 250 ° c . and 800 ° c . in other applications , these same mechanisms for diffusion , precipitation or transformation can be achieved by means of heat treatment of the endo - osseous implants or prostheses , when the process of ion implantation has been completed , at a temperature of between 250 ° c . and 800 ° c . the ion implantation treatment , according to the method of the invention , can be applied to endo - osseous implants or medical prostheses by means of techniques of line of sight ion implantation or beam ion implantation , plasma immersion ion implantation or plasma source ion implantation , or by means of whatever other equivalent technique . as a result of the method of the invention endo - osseous implants or medical prostheses can be obtained , for example , dental implants , prostheses of hip , knee , etc ., with an enhanced degree of osseointegration thereof , and / or with a reduced degree of lixiviation of ions to the physiological medium in contact with said implants and / or prostheses , and / or with enhanced tribological properties , for example , better resistance to abrasion , decreased friction , etc . the endo - osseous implants and prostheses attainable by means of the method of the invention constitute an additional object of this invention . in a particular embodiment , said endo - osseous implants or prostheses have an enhanced degree of osseointegration , and / or a reduced degree of ionic lixiviation to the physiologic medium in contact with the implant or the prostheses , and / or enhanced tribological properties . the following example of embodiment illustrates the invention and should not be taken restrictively with regard to the scope thereof . ion implantation of co + ions in a dental implant this example illustrates the application of a surface ion implantation treatment of co + ions in a dental implant manufactured in a titanium alloy ti6al4v . for it , 8 spline twist titm ( sulzer calcitek inc .) commercial dental implants were selected , 8 mm long by 3 . 75 mm diameter . they are smooth - surface machined screws manufactured in ti6al4v . for the subsequent tests , other 8 dental implants of the same batch were reserved without treatment . in fig4 and 5 the appearance of these screws can be seen in cross - section . the dental implants were cleaned successively in an ultrasonic bath of acetone and ethanol for a minimum period of time of 5 minutes . subsequently they were all introduced in the vacuum chamber . the vacuum level that was reached and maintained during the entire ion implantation process was at all times better than 5 . 10 − 7 millibars . the ion implantation treatment was carried out in an ion implanter of the 1090 series by danfysik as , located in the facilities of inasmet in irun . the dental implants were implanted ionically with co + ions , at an energy of 50 kev with a dose of 5 . 10 17 ions / cm 2 . this treatment was applied to the lateral cylindrical surface and the end surface of the thread of the dental implants . the temperature of the dental implants did not reach at any time values of more than 170 ° c . in fig1 a simplified schematic of a typical manufacturing process of dental implants can be observed . according to estimates made with the “ profile code ” software package , the element implanted under these conditions is in regions of less than 0 . 1 μm in depth , atomic concentrations being reached of more than 25 % for both elements in the areas of maximum concentration and normal incidence of the ion beam . the treatment of dental implants by the ion implantation technique described above allows the implant failure rate to be reduced , due to an increase in the degree of osseointegration of the dental implants in the osseous mass . this has been demonstrated by means of osseous implantation tests . screws of ti6al4v with co + ion implantation have been tested by means of the “ bone implantation test ” according to standard une - en 10993 - 6 : 1995 . the objective of this test was to evaluate the biological response of the osseous tissue to the implanted material . the method compares the biological response to implants in test samples with the biological response to implants in control samples . rabbits were used , mature male albinos ( new zealand white ), animal model with osseous structures of sufficient mass to receive the dental implants , the mean weight of which was 4700 g , with a minimum of 4000 g and a maximum of 5200 g . they have been kept and cared for according to the iso 10993 - 2 : 1992 standard and in compliance with the legal regulations of the ministry of agriculture , fishing and foodstuffs rd 223 / 1988 , order dated oct . 13 , 1989 . 8 smooth - surface machined screws manufactured in ti6al4v , 8 mm long by 3 . 75 mm diameter , and implanted ionically with co + according to the previously described procedure . 8 smooth - surface machined screws manufactured in ti6al4v , 8 mm long by 3 . 75 mm diameter , similar to the samples were used as control samples . a general anaesthesia was applied with tiacine hydrochlorate of 3 . 15 mg / 500 g intramuscular ( i . m .) ( rompun 2 %®) and ketamine 18 mg / 500 g i . m . ( ketolar 50 ®), completed with local anaesthesia in the intervention area with lidocaine 1 : 100 . 000 , 1 ml in each leg . after shaving and disinfection of the area , deferred cutaneous incision was carried out , with sterile technique , separation of the fascias and distal inserts of the internal straight and semi - tendinous muscles and of the proximal insert of the cranial tibial muscle and detachment of the periosteum of the front face of the proximal epiphysis of both tibias . with micromotor and cooling with physiological serum , the osseous cortical mass was drilled at 1500 revolutions / minute , using a ball bit . next , the implant osseous channel was deepened to 8 mm with bits with external cooling of 2 mm in diameter and internal of 3 mm and bit of 3 . 3 mm in diameter , with external irrigation , followed by diestock . the ionically implanted and control dental implants were placed in the channel by manual insertion employing a ratchet key . the wound was closed by planes with polyglactin suture 4 / 0 ( vycril ®) and the skin with silk 3 / 0 ( aragó ®). antibiotic prevention was administered with benzylpenicillin benzathine 50 × 10 3 u / kg / week i . m . ( benzetacil 1 . 200 . 000 ®). locally , after shaving the paws at the level of the tibial plateaux , iodized povidone ( betadine ®) was applied on the area . during the following days analgesic treatment was administered with acetil salicylate of lysine 10 mg / 500 g , i . m . ( inyesprin ®). in the days following , the areas of the surgical wounds were cleaned and 0 . 12 % chlorhexidine and antibiotic ointment ( furacin ®) was applied locally . the animals remained for three months housed individually in a controlled medium with light / darkness cycles ( 12 h ), air conditioning ( 15 renovations / h ) and at a temperature controlled between 18 ° c . and 22 ° c ., complying with the legal regulations in this respect . after sedation with diazepam 5 mg / kg i . m . ( valium ®), the animals were sacrificed using a carbon monoxide chamber , the tibial plateaux containing the implants were extracted in block and introduced in 4 % formol for later processing thereof . the osseous blocks , containing the implants , were subjected to a technique of desiccation and dehydration in 60 %, 80 %, 96 % and 100 % acetones and alcohols , concluding in 100 % xylol . later separation , cutting and fine polishing were carried out according to the donath technique , for obtaining histological sections . to make microscopic study possible , the samples were subjected to staining . an example of the appearance of these samples can be seen in fig4 and 5 . the evaluation of the histological preparations was done by means of prior capture of images with a digital macrophotography system ( nikon ). the images so obtained were analysed by means of an omnimet image analyser , and processed with an image handling program adobe photoshop 5 . 0 . the area in contact with spongy or trabecular bone was not considered osseointegrated , only that with cortical bone . the adjacent areas were considered osseointegrated which for contour similarity with the cortical bone could be assumed to have been displaced in the preparation process . those areas were considered osseointegrated which , in a computer amplification of the area (× 200 ) showed small and fine layers of cortical osseous tissue adhered to the implant . considered as osseointegrated as a single area were those adjacent integrated areas , the separation distance of which was less than one quarter of the width of the thread of the implant . the results showed statistically significant differences between the implants located on the tibia of the rabbit in the epiphyseal area ( distal ) or metaphyseal area ( mesial ), osseointegration being more difficult in the first case , as it concerns an area poorer in cortical bone . in this last case , a significantly greater bone - implant union was appreciated in the case of implants with ion implantation treatment , as can be observed in fig6 . the type of union was analysed between the bone and the implant . in fig7 and 8 a close contact can be observed between bone and implant at different magnifications . the whiter images correspond to bone and the darker to soft tissue . this was checked by a composition analysis by electron microprobe ( eds ) of both areas . also , in one of the samples the implant of the histological section was removed and the bone observed from the cavity of the implant . the images allow the osseous structure in contact with the implant to be seen clearly ( see fig9 , 10 , 11 and 12 ). by means of this technique the composition of the elements present in the atomic layers of the bone - implant interface was analysed , and the type of linkage between the titanium and the osseous tissue to which it is joined ( fig1 ). it was observed that maximum energy was at a binding energy corresponding to a ti — o — c bond , where the carbon belonged to a complex organic molecule . said ti — o — c bond present in the interface of the surface of the implant corresponds to the protein - metallic oxide union formed during the period of permanency in the living animal . surface ion implantation treatment with co + , induces changes in physical structure and surface electrochemistry , increasing adhesion to the surrounding biological tissue . the histomorphometric results obtained confirm the improvement in osseointegration , in terms of bone implant contact . additionally , ionic implantation improves tribological properties , increasing the resistance of the material treated to wear and abrasion , it increases resistance to corrosion and chemical attack , reducing the possibility of electrochemical reaction with the medium , therefore diminishing lixiviation of the material .
the method comprises the ion implantation of controlled quantities of elements such as co , c or o in endo - osseous implants or prostheses manufactured in metals , metallic alloys or biocompatible compound materials . this surface treatment originates some modifications in the characteristics of the surface of the endo - osseous implants or prostheses which increases significantly their degree of osseointegration .