TI BASED BIOMATERIALS, THE

ULTIMATE CHOICE FOR ORTHOPAEDIC

IMPLANTS
ANUP DALAL
14MT60R52

REFERENCE:
Geetha.M, Singh.A, Asokamani.R,Gogia.A Ti based biomaterials, the ultimate
choice for orthopaedic implants A review Progress in Materials Science
( Volume 54,2009) ,
pp. 397425.

ABSTRACT
The eld of biomaterials has become a vital area, as these materials
can enhance the quality and longevity of human life and the science
and technology associated with this eld has now led to multimillion dollar business. The paper focuses its attention mainly on
titanium-based alloys, even though there exists biomaterials made
up of ceramics, polymers and composite materials. The paper
discusses the biomechanical compatibility of many metallic
materials and it brings out the overall superiority of Ti based alloys,
even though it is costlier. As it is well known that a good biomaterial
should possess the fundamental properties such as better
mechanical and biological compatibility and enhanced wear and
corrosion resistance in biological environment, the paper discusses
the inuence of alloy chemistry, thermomechanical processing and
surface condition on these properties. In addition, this paper also
discusses in detail the various surface modication techniques to
achieve superior biocompatibility, higher wear and corrosion
resistance. Overall, an attempt has been made to bring out the
current scenario of Ti based materials for biomedical applications.

INTRODUCTION

To replace the lost or diseased biological structure to restore form and function.

Uses are in articial valves in the heart, stents in blood vessels, replacement
implants in shoulders, knees, hips, elbows, ears and orodental structures

The number of implants used for spinal, hip and knee replacements are extremely
high.

Arthritis leading to pain or loss in function ( excessive loading or absence of

normal biological self-healing process.) , osteoporosis (weakening of the bones),
osteoarthritis (inammation in the bone joints) and trauma.

Should possess excellent biocompatibility, superior corrosion resistance in body

environment, excellent combination of high strength and low modulus, high fatigue
and wear resistance, high ductility and be without cytotoxicity

Presently, the materials used are 316L SS, Co- Cr alloys, and Ti-based alloys.

Titanium alloys are fast emerging as the rst choice for majority of applications.

TOTAL HIP AND KNEE IMPLANTS

REPLACEMENTS

At present Ti35Nb7Zr5Ta possesses the lowest modulus of 55 Gpa.

VARIOUS CAUSES FOR FAILURE OF IMPLANTS

THAT LEADS TO REVISION SURGERY.

Higher life expectancy

REQUIREMENT OF BIOMATERIAL
1) Mechanical properties:

Prime importance are hardness, tensile strength, low modulus and elongation.
Fatigue strength determines the long-term success of the implant subjected to
cyclic loading.

Biomechanical incompatability (inadequate strength or mismatch in mechanical

property)

Stress shielding effect.

To avoid revision Surgery.

2) High corrosion and wear resistance: (abrasion and wear

resistance)

REQUIREMENT OF BIOMATERIAL
3) Biocompatibility:

Highly non toxic and should not cause any inammatory or allergic reactions

The main factors that inuence the biocompatibility of a material are the
1) host response by the material

2) materials degradation

Bioactive materials preferred , high integration with surrounding bone, human

tissues and uids.

4) Osseointegration:

No progressive relative movement between the implant and the bone

A brous tissue is formed between the bone and the implant

Major role Surface chemistry, surface roughness and surface topography.

CURRENTLY USED METALLIC

BIOMEDICAL MATERIALS

316L stainless steel, and Cobalt chromium (CoCr) alloys

Dermatitis due to Ni toxicity and Carcinogenicity due to Co.

Much higher modulus than bone.

Titanium and its alloys high strength, low density (high specic strength), high
immunity to corrosion, complete inertness to body environment, enhanced
biocompatibility, low modulus.

Ti alloys, lower modulus 110 to 55 GPa compared to

316L SS 210 GPa and Cr-Co alloys 240 GPa

Modulus of elasticity of
biomedical alloys

Mechanical properties of biomedical

titanium alloys

LIMITATIONS OF CURRENTLY USED

METALLIC BIOMEDICAL MATERIALS

Ti64 alloy Al and V ions released from the Ti64 alloy are found to be
associated with Alzheimer disease, neuropathy and ostemomalacia .

V toxic both in the elemental state and oxides V2O5.

Ti undergo severe wear when rubbed between itself or other metals .

Wear debris that result in inammatory reaction causing pain and
loosening of implants due to osteolysis

Ti based alloys high coefcient of friction so service period of the

implants made out of them has been restricted to 1015 years

Low modulus beta titanium alloys compatibility and modulus closer to

that of bone.

THERMOMECHANICAL PROCESSING,
MICROSTRUCTURE AND PROPERTIES
IN TITANIUM ALLOYS
stabilizers - V, Mo, Nb, Fe, Cr, etc.
Zr and Sn neutral elements

Alloys containing 12% of stabilizers and about 510% of phase are termed as
near alloys.

Alloys containing higher amounts of stabilizers which results in 1030% of

phase in the microstructure are known as + alloys.

Alloys with still higher stabilizers where phase can be retained by fast cooling
are known as metastable alloys.

These alloys decompose to + on aging. Most of the biomedical titanium alloys

belong to + or metastable class.

INFLUENCE OF THERMOMECHANICAL
PROCESSING ON DEVELOPMENT OF
VARIOUS MICROSTRUCTURE IN ALPHA
BETA TITANIUM

Ti64 normally used in annealed condition.

The metastable biomedical alloys are preferred in solution treated

(ST) and, ST and aged conditions.

The + treated structures have higher strength, higher

ductility and higher low cycle fatigue while the treated
structures have higher fracture toughness.

Nb, Zr, Mo, and Ta are the most suitable alloying elements that
can be added to decrease the modulus of elasticity without
compromising the strength

Alloys like Ti29Nb13Ta4.6Zr, Ti35Nb7Zr5Ta and several

other compositions have now received considerable attention. .

PHASES FORMED IN BETA TITANIUM ALLOYS

UNDER DIFFERENT HEAT TREATMENT

The titanium alloys solution treated in the phase eld,aged to decompose the
metastable phases high strength and ne equiaxed structure best combination of
mechanical properties in the alpha beta alloys

Nb led to the formation of ne equiaxed structure less than 20 wt%, as further

increase may lead to increase in the phase precipitation such as phase, which
increases the strength and modulus of the alloy.

STUDY ON THE DEFORMATION

BEHAVIOR OF TINBTAZR ALLOY
Effect of alloying additions on tensile
strength of TiXNbXTa5Zr alloy

<10 mass% of Ta SIM (Stress

Induced Martensite)
>10% it is identied as slip.

Effect of the tantalum addition

on the modulus TiZr alloy

0 mass % (presence of w phase) and

20 mass % of Ta (only b phase,
10 mass % of Ta (b phase in the
microstructure. )

EFFECT OF ALLOYING ADDITION ON THE

MECHANICAL PROPERTIES OF BETA TI
ALLOYS.

Amongst all beta alloys developed, the alloy Ti35Nb7Zr5Ta exhibits lowest elastic
modulus of 55 GPa and good fatigue properties in the solution treated condition .

Duplex aging of this alloy (260 C for 4 h plus 427 C for 8 h) is found to result in
optimum tensile yield and ultimate tensile strength compared to single aging
treatment (260 C for 4 h or 427 C for 8 h).

WEAR IN BIOMEDICAL ALLOYS

Wear debris from the implant bone resorption, loosening of the implant.

Revision surgery (expensive), its success rate is less compared to the rst implantation.

Accumulation of wear particles in the liver, spleen or abdominal lymph nodes is a

common occurrence in patients.

There is a wide variation between the wear rate determined in vivo (15 mm 3/annum)
and and in vitro using hip motion simulating machines (0.010.1 mm3/million cycles)
several factors such as type of lubrication, angle of inclination of the actebalur cup and
kind of motion between the mating pair.

Sliding wear resistance of Ti35Nb8Zr5Ta against hardened steel was found to be

superior than Ti64 at a low contact stress of 1.5 MPa, while the reverse was observed at
higher contact stress of 5 Mpa.

High Nb are found to be highly benecial with respect to wear as Nb 2O5 possesses very
good lubricating properties and furthur Nb improves passivity property and hence
posses better corrosion resistance than Ti64

WEAR OF IMPLANT

Ti64alloy it was noted that titanium alloy femoral heads consistently had the
maximum wear averaging 74.3% against high molecular weight polyethylene
acetabular component.
CoCr alloy was found to wear the least
SS was in between CoCr and Ti alloy.

BIOCOMPATIBILITY OF TITANIUM
AND ITS ALLOYS

The chemical composition on the surface and the surface topography are believed
to be important in bone contacting implants The articial implants, once
implanted in vivo, induces a cascade of reactions in the biological microenvironment through interaction of the biomaterial with body uid, proteins and
various cells.

OTHER MATERIALS

Nitinol :shape memory effect, enhanced biocompatibility,

superplasticity and high damping properties

Elastic modulus (Gpa) 3848

Ni above certain concentrations leads to severe local tissue

irritation, necrosis, and toxic reactions.

the NiTi with 16% porosity exhibited excellent combination of

mechanical properties such as high strength (1000 MPa), low
young modulus (15 GPa), large compressive ductility (>7%), large
recoverable strains (>6%) and high-energy absorption (>30 MJ/m 3)

NANOPHASE MATERIALS

The number of atoms on the surface is very high and hence possess large surface
energy. The bone forming cells generally attach themselves to the surface whose
roughness is of nanometer range.
High osseointegration.
Small pores enhance cell adhesion due to the protein that attaches to that surface
when compared to the large pore size.

MY TOPIC

Wear resistance of Ti- alloys can be improved by reinforcing

matrix with some hard precipitates. TiC is one of the
promising due to its high hardness, density that is similar
to Ti- alloys and good interfacial bonding

Focus being the study of mechanical properties of carbon

free and carbon containing beta Ti-alloys in relation to
phase transformation and microstructural changes
occurring during hot/cold rolling and subsequent heat
treatment.

Alloys Ti-Nb-Zr-Ta with comp Ti-35Nb-7Zr-5Ta.

FUTURE STUDY

To understand the mechanism by which nanosurface alters the cell

adsorption behavior

If and how the enhanced mechanical properties of nanophase

ceramic could be incorpated into the next generation biomaterials.

More research on development of an appropriate protocol for

measuring the wear property should be performed for development
of an alloy with better wear resistance.

More studies on the effect of thermomechanical processing on the

properties of these alloys are required to gain a better
understanding.

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