Benefits of Titanium in Implants
Stainless Steel or Titanium?
The majority of our implants are made from Titanium (Ti) and Titanium alloys (e.g. TAN). The implants need to be strong to resist the high forces occurring in active animals without failure as well as ductile so that the implant can be contoured to match the anatomy of the animal without breakage. Titanium has good material properties to match these requirements. Optimal strength-to-weight-ratio Given its strength, Titanium is remarkably light. When compared to steel in a strength-to-weight ratio, Titanium is far superior, as it is as strong as steel but 45% lighter. In fact, pure Titanium has the highest strength-to-weight ratio of all known metals. Biocompatibility Titanium and Titanium alloys provide a reduced risk of tissue reaction. The more biocompatible an implant is, the more it will be tolerated by the body. That means a lower risk of infection and higher chances for good healing. Ductility Titanium alloy implants are more ductile than stainless steel implants. Imaging Magnetic resonance imaging (MRI) of the body uses a powerful magnetic field, radio waves and a computer to produce detailed pictures of the inside of your body. Titanium doesn’t effect the MRI image quality in contrast to other metals such as stainless steel which produces more imaging artifacts than Titanium. Fretting Titanium and Titanium alloys are durable and provide a minimum of fretting. When two contacting surfaces experience relative movement at minute under load, fretting occurs as a destructive phenomenon.
