Pure titanium pieces were air-oxidized and autoclaved at 121 degrees C for 20 min before aligning various pairs of specimens in the GRAPE (R) set-up, i.e., two pieces of rectangular substrates were aligned parallel to each other with optimum gap width (spatial design). Then, they were soaked in Kokubo's simulated body fluid (SBF) for 7 days to clarify how the autoclaving is to affect the in vitro apatite-forming ability on the substrates under the specific spatial design. Autoclaved specimens deposited a larger number of apatite particles, and showed stronger apatite X-ray diffraction than the specimen only heated in air. X-ray photoelectron spectroscopy (XPS) analysis indicated that the amount of chemically adsorbed OH and Ti-OH groups on the thermally oxidized titanium specimens increased by autoclaving. These results lead to the conclusion that the increase of Ti-OH groups and OH(s) and H2O groups on the surface enhanced the in vitro apatite-forming ability on spatial design. (C)2010 The Ceramic Society of Japan. All rights reserved.