Medical Devices in Orthopedic Applications

Abstract

Orthopedic medical devices have been extremely successful in restoring mobility, reducing pain, and improving the quality of life for millions of individuals each year. Their success is reflected in the worldwide biomaterials market, in which orthopedic devices dominated sales at approximately $14 billion in 2002. Of this, approximately $12 billion was spent on joint replacements. In spite of their overwhelming benefits and successes, orthopedic medical devices are not without risk of adverse effects. Most adverse joint replacement outcomes are thought to be mediated by degradation products generated by wear and electrochemical corrosion. Infection and flaws in device manufacturing are other noteworthy causes of orthopedic device failure. This article illustrates and discusses the uses, general properties, and limitations (including adverse outcomes) of orthopedic biomaterials, which are fundamental to understanding requirements for improving current orthopedic medical devices.

Mg and Its Alloys for Biomedical Applications: Exploring Corrosion and Its Interplay with Mechanical Failure

“…These implants are generally used for applications that ensure a substantial improvement in patients' quality of life, such as orthopaedics, pacemakers, cardiovascular stents, defibrillators, neural prosthetics and drug delivery systems [2][3][4][5]. Among these, orthopaedic surgery is the most important [4], characterized by the highest annual growth rate. Indeed, according to Long and Rach [6], almost 90% of the population over 40 years is affected by degenerative joint diseases.…”

“…This kind of joints are also affected by sliding issues potentially leading to the formation of wear debris if (5) is not high enough. This again causes acute immune response resulting in inflammation and/or fibrosis [4]. Finally, implanting materials in the human body necessitates great biocompatibility implying that they do not release any toxic substances into the body (6).…”

“…In recent years, researchers and clinicians have employed a variety of compositions, properties and forms in which polymers are available to best match the specifications of the materials' desired biomedical function [4,13,16,20,59]. However, they tend to be too flexible and too weak for load-bearing applications required in orthopaedic surgery.…”

Anti‐fibrosis effect of BMP‐7 peptide functionalization on cobalt chromium alloy

“…12 Clinically, post-operative fibrosis is an irreversible complication 13 in joint replacement procedures 14 which can result in implant loosening and failure of the implant or the adjacent bone. 15 The fabrication of implants with anti-fibrosis properties would be beneficial for surgical use during direct biological fixation to enhance bioactive implanttissue reaction. 15 Studies are still lacking in investigating the role of anti-fibrotic factors immobilized on metallic implant surfaces for such purposes.…”

“…15 The fabrication of implants with anti-fibrosis properties would be beneficial for surgical use during direct biological fixation to enhance bioactive implanttissue reaction. 15 Studies are still lacking in investigating the role of anti-fibrotic factors immobilized on metallic implant surfaces for such purposes.…”