Application Of Titanium Alloy in The Medical Field

Advantages of titanium alloy in medical treatment

Titanium has the advantages of non-rusting, antibacterial, non-magnetic and non-deformation, and has become a widely used medical metal material in recent years.Due to its "biophilic" properties, titanium has good biocompatibility with human tissues and no toxic side effects, it has a extensive use in the medical field.

According to American laboratory research, two types of titanium, 6AL4V and 6AL4V ELI, are most closely related to the medical field.6AL4V and 6AL4V ELI are titanium alloys containing 6 % aluminum and 4% vanadium, which are widely used in the medical field due to their strong affinity with the human body.Gr5 and Gr23 are also applied to different medical devices according to different grades.  Ti06AI and TI-6AI-4V ELI are currently mostly used in the field of dentistry due to their strong structure and not fragile, nowadays ,some dental braces, dentures and other medical products have used these two titanium alloys.  

The application of titanium alloy in titanium medical devices

Titanium alloy medical instrument is the third generation of surgical instrument after carbon steel and stainless steel. In order to improve the rust resistance of stainless steel instruments, they must do a series of surface treatment such as chrome plating and electric polishing.However, chromium is toxic, and the peeling chromium layer will cause a certain effect on the human body.

The benefits of using medical titanium alloy as a medical device are:

1,The instrument is lightweight, it can reduce the injury to blood vessels, muscles, organs and doctor’s fatigue,titanium medical instruments are more suitable for fine microsurgery;

2,Good corrosion resistance and non-toxic,the equipment does not rust, it can prevent from the wound infection and help to heal soon;

3,The elasticity of medical titanium alloy is moderate, suitable for pliers, tweezers, micro scalpel and other instruments;

4,The reflection of medical titanium is weak and more suitable than stainless steel when operating under shadowless lamp;

Titanium-made medical devices mainly include：scalpel, surgical forceps, thoracic amplifier, suture needle, suture etc.Compared with other materials (such as stainless steel wire), medical titanium wire used as surgical suture has small reaction and good anti-torsion resistance. After suturing,the surgical wound is not easily inflamed.Medical titanium wire (TA1 or TA2 wire) with a diameter of 0.5~0.8mm is generally used for sutures.In addition,nickel titanium alloy wire has soft elasticity which can help the wound heal rapidly.Moreover,Medical titanium alloy is also an important material for auxiliary rehabilitation appliances, such as wheelchairs, crutches, splints, medical instruments etc.