The Clinical Application of Porous Tantalum and Its New Development for Bone Tissue Engineering

Abstract

Porous tantalum (Ta) is a promising biomaterial and has been applied in orthopedics and dentistry for nearly two decades. The high porosity and interconnected pore structure of porous Ta promise fine bone ingrowth and new bone formation within the inner space, which further guarantee rapid osteointegration and bone-implant stability in long term. Porous Ta has high wettability and surface energy that can facilitate adherence, proliferation and mineralization of osteoblasts. Meanwhile, low elastic modulus and high friction coefficient of porous Ta can effectively avoid stress shield effect, minimize marginal bone loss and ensure primary stability. Accordingly, the satisfactory clinical application of porous Ta based implants or prostheses are mainly derived from its excellent biological and mechanical properties. With the advent of additive manufacturing, personalized porous Ta based implants or prostheses have shown their clinical value in the treatment of individual patient who need specially designed implant or prosthesis. In addition, many modification methods have been introduced to enhance the bioactivity and antibacterial property of porous Ta with promising in vitro and in vivo research results. In any case, choosing suitable patients is of great importance to guarantee surgical success after porous Ta insertion.

A comprehensive review of biological and materials properties of Tantalum and its alloys

“…These Ta properties also have a positive impact when incorporated into other metals, polymers, and ceramics to improve their biological and physicochemical properties 15–18 . There are excellent reviews available on the clinical use of Ta based implants especially for orthopedic, 12,19 dental, 19,20 and spinal fusion applications 19,21 . However, to the best of our knowledge, there are no reviews available specifically focusing on the biological and materials properties of Ta and its alloys.…”

Fabrication, bacteriostasis and osteointegration properties researches of the additively-manufactured porous tantalum scaffolds loading vancomycin

“…However, due to its biological inertia, Ti showed poor osteointegration properties, and its alloy was reported to release toxic elements such as aluminum and vanadium, causing biological toxicity [ 24 , 26 ]. In recent years, a great number of laboratorial studies and clinical trials have proved that Ta possesses good biocompatibility and specific osteogenic properties [ 27 ]. It is well known that geometry and mechanical properties matched with natural bone tissue were beneficial for the integration between implants and the host bone tissue [ 9 , 28 , 29 ].…”