Microtomography of magnesium implants in bone and their degradation

Frank Witte; Jens Fischer; Jens Nellesen; Felix Beckmann

doi:10.1117/12.679844

7 September 2006 Microtomography of magnesium implants in bone and their degradation

Frank Witte, Jens Fischer, Jens Nellesen, Felix Beckmann

Proceedings Volume 6318, Developments in X-Ray Tomography V; 631806 (2006) https://doi.org/10.1117/12.679844
Event: SPIE Optics + Photonics, 2006, San Diego, California, United States

Abstract

Biodegradable metal implants for musculoskeletal and intravascular applications made of magnesium alloys have been shown to degrade in-vivo by corrosion. The in vivo corrosion of magnesium alloys has the potential to provide a new mechanism which will allow metal implants to be applied in musculoskeletal surgery as biodegradable implants. This would particularly be true if magnesium alloys with predictable in vivo corrosion rates could be developed. Since the magnesium corrosion process depends on the corrosive environment, the corrosion rates of magnesium alloys under standard in-vitro environmental conditions are not directly comparable to results obtained from an animal model. Synchrotron-radiation based microtomography (SRμCT) enabled us to investigate non-destructively the in vivo corrosion as well as the osteointegration at the implant-bone interphase at a high spatial resolution. Corrosion morphology and its metallurgical quantification of pit formation could be obtained. Since the alloying elements of magnesium alloys have significant importance for the degradation process in biological environments the biocompatibility depending on their local concentration and distribution has to be investigated. For this purpose we used element-specific SRμCT to show the spatial distribution without destroying the bone-implant interphase. The SRμCT setup at HASYLAB at DESY will be an excellent tool in the future to develop suitable magnesium alloys and magnesium implants for special medical applications.

Citation Download Citation

Frank Witte, Jens Fischer, Jens Nellesen, and Felix Beckmann "Microtomography of magnesium implants in bone and their degradation", Proc. SPIE 6318, Developments in X-Ray Tomography V, 631806 (7 September 2006); https://doi.org/10.1117/12.679844

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