Metallic materials have been used as biomedical implants for various parts of the human body for many decades. The physiological environment (body fl uid) is considered to be extremely corrosive to metallic surfaces; and corrosion is one of the major problems to the widespread use of the metals in the human body since the corrosion products can cause infections, local pain, swelling, and loosening of the implants. Recently, the most common corrosion-resistant metallic biomaterials are made of stainless steels and titanium and its alloys along with cobaltchromium-molybdenum alloys. It is well known that protective surface fi lms of the alloys play a key role in corrosion of the metallic implants. Key documents on the corrosion behavior of the metallic biomaterials in human body have been compiled under this chapter as a review.
Keywords Metallic biomaterials • Corrosion • Physical body fl uid • Bioactive materials • Implant
IntroductionThe main question is, "what is the most important property for a metallic biomaterial?" Clearly, the answer is biocompatibility . In addition, it is well known that corrosion is one of the major problems affecting the biocompatibility of orthopedic devices made of metals and alloys used as implants in the human body. Compared to other implants, metallic implants have excellent mechanical properties such as high elasticity, tensile strength, wear resistance, and machining.