ISSN:
1662-9752
Source:
Scientific.Net: Materials Science & Technology / Trans Tech Publications Archiv 1984-2008
Topics:
Mechanical Engineering, Materials Science, Production Engineering, Mining and Metallurgy, Traffic Engineering, Precision Mechanics
Notes:
Degradable implants have been in use for bone surgery for decades. However, degradablemetal implants are one of the new research areas of biomaterials science. There is a potential forapplication of degradable metal implants as screws and plates in bones. Magnesium alloys are oneof the new candidate materials for degradable implants. Magnesium has good biocompatibility dueto its low toxicity, and it is a corroding, i.e. dissolvable, metal. Furthermore, magnesium is neededin human body, and naturally found in bone tissue. Mechanical properties of magnesium alloys aredimensionally comparable to the cortical bone substance. In this study, corrosion behavior ofmagnesium metal at the bone interface and the possibility of new bone cell formation have beeninvestigated. Cortical bone screws were machined from magnesium alloy AZ31 extruded rod andimplanted to hip-bones of sheep via surgery. Three months after surgery, the bone segmentscarrying these screws were removed from the sacrificed animals. Samples were sectioned to revealMg/bone interfaces and investigated using optical microscope, SEM-EDS and radiography. Opticaland SEM images showed that there was a significant amount of corrosion on the magnesium screw.The elemental mapping results indicate, due to the presence of calcium and phosphorus elements,that there exists new bone formation at the interface. From the results of this study, it may be statedthat the potential for using magnesium alloys as a bone implant material is expected to besignificant
Type of Medium:
Electronic Resource
URL:
http://www.tib-hannover.de/fulltexts/2011/0528/02/16/transtech_doi~10.4028%252Fwww.scientific.net%252FMSF.546-549.421.pdf
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