Long term tissue response to titanium coated with diamond like carbon.

Diamond like carbon (DLC) coatings were deposited on to Ti substrates by plasma enhanced chemical vapor deposition technique. Ti and DLC/Ti samples were implanted in skeletal muscle of rabbits. The samples were explanted after 1, 3, 6 and 12 months and the tissue-cell interaction was studied. Our data indicate both DLC/Ti and bare Ti to be compatible with skeletal muscle.