The goal of this study was to assess the osseointegration of porous titanium implants by means of coating with autologous osteoblasts. Titanium implants (8 x 5 x 4 mm) having drill channels with diameters of 400, 500, and 600 microm were coated with autologous osteoblasts obtained from spongiosa chips. The implants were inserted into the distal femora of 17 adult Chinchilla Bastard rabbits (group I). Uncoated implants were inserted as controls in the contralateral femur (group II). The animals were sacrificed after 5, 11, and 42 days. Intravital fluorochrome labeling and microradiography were used for the assessment of bone ingrowth into the titanium channels. In both groups, no bone tissue was formed in the channels up to day 5. On day 11, group I exhibited significantly more (p
