Titanium and Titanium Alloys---Medical Principles
Titanium and titanium alloys have a high density and low elastic modulus, which can avoid local bone absorption, making them excellent replacement materials for artificial bones, joints and other hard tissues. The acetabular cup and cuboid handle of artificial hip prosthesis are usually made of titanium and titanium alloys. After the acetabulum is fixed, the joint head can move freely in the acetabular cup. Artificial knee joints are also often made of titanium and titanium alloys, which are composed of three parts: tibial component, femoral component and patellar component.
Bone and joint replacements are subject to the torsion, compression, muscle contraction and other effects of the human body, so the strength and toughness of the implants are very high. Pure titanium can be used in parts of the human body that are less stressed, and TC4 titanium alloy can be used in parts of the human body that are more stressed.
Development
In 1985, the Swiss company Sulzer used Ti-6Al-7Nb alloy to manufacture artificial hip joint stems and applied it.
Pure titanium and TC4 titanium alloy are the main materials used in the dental field. Titanium materials used in dentistry are usually formed by precision casting, so they have high strength but low elongation.
Advantages
Dental implants Titanium and titanium alloys are widely used as tooth restoration materials. Their advantages are as follows:
① Titanium dissolves less in acidic and alkaline environments, and does not have the corrosion and discoloration problems of silver alloys;
② It is very safe for the human body and will not cause hypersensitivity reactions caused by nickel alloys;
③ The density of pure titanium is only 4.50 g/cm3, which is close to the density of natural teeth. The gums made of it are light in weight and have a good feeling of fitting;
④ Pure titanium has low thermal conductivity and is non-irritating to the pulp;
⑤ Compared with traditional gum materials, it has the characteristic of not changing the taste of food when chewing. Therefore, titanium and titanium alloys are the dental materials with the best clinical application effect so far.
Titanium mesh repair
Skull repair implants Craniotomy usually causes skull defects. Currently, titanium mesh is usually used to repair skull defects in clinical practice. During the repair, in order to make the repair body fit well with the patient's original skull, the doctor needs to cut many notches on the titanium mesh according to the size and shape of the patient's defect before or during the operation, and repeatedly modify and cut the mesh after comparing it on the patient's head until it meets the requirements of the patient's defect. This will not only increase the use of titanium nails, reduce the strength of the titanium mesh, but also increase the operation time.
