Metallic materials,as biomedical functional materials,constitute an important branch of materials science,with a history of over 400 years of use in human implants.The UK was an early adopter of pure gold plates for cranial bone repair and dental implants,followed by the sequential use of silver,iron sheets,iron wires,and iron-based alloys for the fixation of fractured joints.After 1930,cobalt-based alloys were used as human implants in the UK and the US.During World War II,countries such as the UK,the US,and Japan utilized a large amount of stainless steel as human implants.In the early 1950s,with the development of the rare metal industry,titanium,niobium,and zirconium in processed and cast forms were used as human implants in clinical trials.

In 1972,China began to adopt domestically produced titanium and titanium alloy products.More than 20 hospitals,including Beijing Jishuitan Hospital,successively used titanium and titanium alloy artificial bones and joints for clinical treatment applications and research.Hip joints,elbow joints,mandibular bones,etc.were manufactured and used for clinical treatment of patients.At the same time,the immersion experiments of simulated human body fluids,electrochemical anodization experiments,and corrosion kinetic curve measurements conducted by Huashan Hospital and Shanghai Metallurgical Research Institute proved that titanium and titanium alloy artificial bones and joints have excellent corrosion resistance and minimal biological reactions when used in the human body,making them ideal human implants.The Human Physiology Research Group of the Department of Biology at Fudan University and Shanghai Sixth People's Hospital conducted mechanical property measurements on implanted human bones and joints,concluding that the strength of titanium and titanium alloy meets the requirements for human implants.

Based on relevant research from countries around the world and numerous clinical treatment cases,titanium and titanium alloys are recognized as the most ideal metallic materials for human implants to date,both in terms of depth and breadth.They are listed as the third-generation metal,following stainless steel and cobalt-based alloys,in the current medical surgery industry.

After the mid-1980s,the use of domestically produced titanium and titanium alloy processed materials for manufacturing human implants increased,with the development and application of titanium shape memory alloys reaching an internationally advanced level.By the mid-1990s,domestically produced titanium and titanium alloy processed materials were widely used in orthopedics,neurosurgery,cardiovascular systems,oral and maxillofacial surgery,and human external culture machines.In the past five years,a number of enterprises such as Tianjin Weiman Biomaterials Co.,Ltd.and Beijing Ospilic New Technology Co.,Ltd.have become producers of titanium and stainless steel human implants.Hundreds of metal components made of titanium and titanium alloys,including femoral heads,hip joints,humeri,skulls,knee joints,elbow joints,shoulder joints,metacarpophalangeal joints,jawbones,as well as heart valves,kidney valves,vascular expanders,splints,prostheses,fastening screws,etc.,have been transplanted into the human body and achieved good results,receiving high praise from the medical community.

Human implants are special functional materials closely related to human life and health.Compared with other metal materials,there are six main advantages of using titanium and titanium alloys:

1.Lightweight;2.Low elastic modulus;3.Non-magnetic;4.Non-toxic;5.Corrosion resistance;6.High strength and good toughness.

Titanium and titanium alloys possess excellent application characteristics and are globally recognized as superior metallic materials in the biomedical field.Compared to metallic materials such as stainless steel and cobalt-based alloys,they exhibit significant application advantages and have ample room for development.

Medical titanium alloy

According to relevant information,the use of metal materials as human implants has gradually increased.After 1990,the United States alone used over 2 million metal implants per year,with hip and femoral components accounting for 2.5%.The European market,led by France,Germany,Italy,and the United Kingdom,has seen booming demand and supply for external and internal fixation products for fractures,with the market value reaching$280 million in 2004,of which internal fixation products accounted for 85.7%.Over the past 10 years,the market growth rate of biomedical materials and products has consistently been between 20%and 25%.It is predicted that in the next 10 to 15 years,the industrialization of medical devices,including biomedical materials,will develop rapidly,achieving economies of scale and becoming a pillar industry of the global economy.

The advantages of medical titanium and titanium alloy materials have been recognized by the medical community and are increasingly accepted by patients.Considering factors such as war,sports injuries,and the improvement of people's living standards,there is significant growth potential for titanium and titanium alloy as the preferred choice for human implants,which is bound to become a new economic growth point in the development of titanium applications.