Directed Irradiation Synthesis as an Advanced Plasma Technology for Surface Modification to Activate Porous and “as-received” Titanium Surfaces
, Jean Paul Allain 1,2,3,*, Juan Jose Pavón 1,2,4, Akshath Shetty 1,2, Osman El-Atwani 5, Emily Walker 6, Sandra L. Arias 2,3, Emily Gordon 6, José A. Rodríguez-Ortiz 7, Mike Chen 8 and Yadir Torres 7Round 1
Reviewer 1 Report
This is a very well presented and written manuscript which I do recommend for publication.
I could not review Figures S1, S2 and S3 as I did not receive them.
Please review the references' citation in the text as the formatting is not correct.
Author Response
December 10th, 2019
Ref. No.: metals-656364
Response to Reviewers
We would like to thank the reviewers for providing insightful and important comments to our manuscript. As requested, we have considered the reviewers’ comments (R.C.), and the following is the list of authors' responses (A.R.). In addition, the text has been thoroughly revised for typographic errors as well as errors in syntax and highlighted in green colour.
Reviewer # 1:
English language and style
( ) Extensive editing of English language and style required
( ) Moderate English changes required
(x) English language and style are fine/minor spell check required
( ) I don't feel qualified to judge about the English language and style
|
Yes |
Can be improved |
Must be improved |
Not applicable |
|
|
Does the introduction provide sufficient background and include all relevant references? |
(x) |
( ) |
( ) |
( ) |
|
Is the research design appropriate? |
(x) |
( ) |
( ) |
( ) |
|
Are the methods adequately described? |
(x) |
( ) |
( ) |
( ) |
|
Are the results clearly presented? |
(x) |
( ) |
( ) |
( ) |
|
Are the conclusions supported by the results? |
(x) |
( ) |
( ) |
( ) |
This is a very well presented and written manuscript which I do recommend for publication.
- I could not review Figures S1, S2, and S3 as I did not receive them.
- Please review the references' citation in the text as the formatting is not correct.
A.R:- We provide and attach the supporting information file to show the Figures S1, S2, and S3.
- We have revised the references citation and formatting.
Author Response File: 
Author Response.pdf
Reviewer 2 Report
State of the art related to the use of medical grade (Ti) alloys and c.p. Ti, including surface modification challenges for implants were well described.
The novelty of the presented research is mainly related to the use of energetic -ions for nanoscale patterning ad structuring of porous and non-porous Ti based materials surfaces.
The applicability of received nanopatterned surfaces were properly tested by using human aortic smooth muscle cells (HASMCs) for cytotoxicity assessment.
The manuscript is well prepared, easy to read and understand.
Talking about future steps it could be useful to study not only the presence of metallic impurities that can trigger their instability to produce spontaneous self-organized nanostructures but also to perform XPS measurements in order to evaluate changes in surface elemental composition (for example cleaning from carbonaceous substances), formation of polar and non-polar groups which can influence wettability of ion beam modified surfaces.
Author Response
December 10th, 2019
Ref. No.: metals-656364
Response to Reviewers
We would like to thank the reviewers for providing insightful and important comments to our manuscript. As requested, we have considered the reviewers’ comments (R.C.), and the following is the list of authors' responses (A.R.). The correction has been marked in green colour. In addition, the text has been thoroughly revised for typographic errors as well as errors in syntax.
Reviewer # 2:
State of the art related to the use of medical grade (Ti) alloys and c.p. Ti, including surface modification challenges for implants were well described. The novelty of the presented research is mainly related to the use of energetic -ions for nanoscale patterning ad structuring of porous and non-porous Ti-based materials surfaces. The applicability of received nanopatterned surfaces was properly tested by using human aortic smooth muscle cells (HASMCs) for cytotoxicity assessment. The manuscript is well prepared, easy to read and understand.
Talking about future steps it could be useful to study not only the presence of metallic impurities that can trigger their instability to produce spontaneous self-organized nanostructures but also to perform XPS measurements in order to evaluate changes in surface elemental composition (for example cleaning from carbonaceous substances), formation of polar and non-polar groups which can influence wettability of ion beam modified surfaces.
A.R.: We really appreciate the suggestion and agree with the next future steps. Surface chemistry modification should be analyzed using XPS to examine the elemental composition during the irradiation process. We have included it in conclusions.
Reviewer 3 Report
The paper presents an interesting study that build on the work done by the authors previously. This work shows the use of DIS to improve cellular viability for porous and as received Ti surfaces. Different ranges of fluences and incident angles were used and their effects were studied. The authors should focus on the following to improve their work:
- Page 3; line134: Why was the Ti powder blended for 40 min and how do the authors ensure good homogenization. The authors should first define what good homogenisation is.
- Page 4: Please put Table 1 after Section 2.2.
- Page 4: Please provide the basis for the control parameters described in Section 2.4. Are they based on previous work or existing literature?
- Figs. 5 and 6: Please use a colour other than black as the bars are not visible in these images.
Author Response
December 10th, 2019
Ref. No.: metals-656364
Response to Reviewers
We would like to thank the reviewers for providing insightful and important comments to our manuscript. As requested, we have considered the reviewers’ comments (R.C.), and the following is the list of authors' responses (A.R.). In addition, the text has been thoroughly revised for typographic errors as well as errors in syntax and the changes have been highlighted in green color.
Reviewer # 3:
The paper presents an interesting study that build on the work done by the authors previously. This work shows the use of DIS to improve cellular viability for porous and as received Ti surfaces. Different ranges of fluences and incident angles were used and their effects were studied. The authors should focus on the following to improve their work:
R# 3:Page 3; line134: Why was the Ti powder blended for 40 min and how do the authors ensure good homogenization. The authors should first define what good homogenisation is.A.R.: Several mixing times were evaluated. The powder was divided into three parts each time (surface, bulk, and bottom of the recipient) and particle size distribution was measured, reaching homogeneity at ≥40 min. This text has been included in the corresponding methodology.
R# 3: Page 4: Please put Table 1 after Section 2.2.A.R.: We have located Table 1 after Section 2.2. following reviewer’s recommendation. Please see page 4
R# 3: Page 4: Please provide the basis for the control parameters described in Section 2.4. Are they based on previous work or existing literature?A.R.: Section 2.4 is composed of different cell experiments and all steps and parameters described are mainly from exiting literature (commercial manufacturer's guidelines) and on previous work. The cell passage of HASMC has been performed following the product information sheet from Thermofisher (Catalog Number C-007-5C Pub. No. MAN0001599). The control parameters used are the general parameters in cell culture experiments to growth commercial cell lines (37 C, CO2% and 95% of humidity). Alamarblue assay (Thermofisher) is well-known as a cell viability test and we have followed the manufacturer’s protocol, but we have studied the cell incubation time based on previous studies performed in the laboratory with other cell lines. We have included reference number 33 related to our previous work. Cell morphology was studied based on previous work and on the existing literature protocol for immunostaining. Finally, the Comet assay has been done following the manufacturer's protocol and also has been done in previous work. Please see reference 33. All protocols are available online.
R# 3: Figs. 5 and 6: Please use a color other than black as the bars are not visible in these imagesA.R.: We have performed this suggestion as the reviewer recommends. The black color has been changed to grey.
