Recent results indicate varying degrees of bone ingrowth into porous metal and ceramic bodies. Such homogeneously porous ceramic and metal implants generally possess inadequate mechanical properties, limiting their application to low stress or nonstructural applications. An experiment was performed wherein titanium porous coatings were applied to a wrought titanium bone implant. These surfaces were achieved by plasma spraying of titanium hydride powder, depositing a mixture of wellbonded titanium‐titanium oxide with pore diameters varying from .002 to .005 in.Implant specimens were placed in sheep femora for periods of 14 and 26 weeks. No adverse affects were noted. Interface shear strengths were determined by torque tests which indicated approximately a twenty‐fold increase over similar tests performed on uncoated control specimens.