Materials Used in Orthopaedic Implants

Common Materials Used in Orthopaedic Implants

Generally, the most common materials used in orthopaedic implants are metals and a type of plastic called polyethylene. These two material types are combined in most joint implants, that is, one component is made from metal, and one from polyethylene. When properly designed and implanted, the two components can rub together smoothly while minimizing wear.

While some pure metals have excellent characteristics for use as implants, most metal implants are made from a mixture of two or more metals. These mixed metals are called alloys. By combining metals, a new material can be created that has a good balance of the desired characteristics. The most common metal alloys used in orthopaedic implants are stainless steels, cobalt-chromium alloys, and titanium alloys.

Stainless Steel

Stainless steel is a very strong alloy, and is most often used in implants that are intended to help repair fractures, such as bone plates, bone screws, pins, and rods. Stainless steel is made mostly of iron, with other metals such as chromium or molybdenum added to make it more resistant to corrosion. There are many different types of stainless steel. The stainless steels used in orthopaedic implants are designed to resist the normal chemicals found in the human body.

Cobalt-chromium Alloys

Cobalt-chromium alloys are also strong, hard, biocompatible, and corrosion resistant. These alloys are used in a variety of joint replacement implants, as well as some fracture repair implants, that require a long service life. While cobalt-chromium alloys contain mostly cobalt and chromium, they also include other metals, such as molybdenum, to increase their strength.

Titanium Alloys

Titanium alloys are considered to be biocompatible. They are the most flexible of all orthopaedic alloys. They are also lighter weight than most other orthopaedic alloys. Consisting mostly of titanium, they also contain varying degrees of other metals, such as aluminum and vanadium.

Titanium

Pure titanium may also be used in some implants where high strength is not required. It is used, for example, to make fiber metal, which is a layer of metal fibers bonded to the surface of an implant to allow the bone to grow into the implant, or cement to flow into the implant, for a better grip.

Tantalum

Tantalum is a pure metal with excellent physical and biological characteristics. It is flexible, corrosion resistant, and biocompatible.

Polyethylene

Polyethylene is a type of plastic commonly used on the surface of one implant that is designed to contact another implant, as in a joint replacement. You may recognize polyethylene as the material used to make milk cartons. But don’t worry; your implant is not made from recycled milk cartons. The polyethylene used in orthopaedic implants is a much higher grade. In fact, a special type of medical-grade polyethylene was developed specifically for use in orthopaedic implants.

Polyethylene is very durable when it comes into contact with other materials. When a metal implant moves on a polyethylene surface, as it does in most joint replacements, the contact is very smooth and the amount of wear is minimal.

Patients who are younger or more active may benefit from polyethylene with even more resistance to wear. This can be accomplished through a process called crosslinking, which creates stronger bonds between the elements that make up the polyethylene. The appropriate amount of crosslinking depends on the type of implant. For example, the surface of a hip implant may require a different degree of crosslinking than the surface of a knee implant.