Porous ß-type Ti-Nb alloy for biomedical applications

One of the most important factors for a successful performance of a load-bearing implant for hard tissue replacement is its mechanical compatibility with human bone. That implies that the stiffness should be close to that of a bone and the strength of the implant material must be high enough to bear the load applied under physiological conditions. The Young´s modulus of most of the commonly used biomedical alloys is larger than that of a human bone (around 100 GPa for cp Ti, 112 GPa for Ti-6Al-4V versus 10-30 GPa for cortical human bone). A stiffness reduction of Ti alloys can be achieved by two approaches: (i) selecting an alloy composition with low Young´s modulus i.e. a ß-type alloy and (ii) introducing a reasonable amount of porosity. The composition of Ti-40Nb was chosen for the present work, as it allows to stabilize a single ß-type phase with low Young´s modulus at room temperature. The samples were produced by a powder metallurgical approach. The Ti-40Nb alloy powder was obtained by ball-milling of elemental Ti and Nb powders. The influence of the milling parameters on the oxygen content in the milled powder was studied. Powders with a lowest oxygen content of 0.4 wt.-% had an almost single ß-type phase after heat treatment and quenching. Porous samples were produced by loose powder sintering, hot-pressing and sintering with NaCl as a space-holder. The influence of the different processing routes and different porosities on the mechanical properties of the alloy was studied. The samples produced by loose powder sintering had mechanical properties close to those of cortical human bone (Young´s modulus 20 GPa, compression strength 150 MPa) and the samples produced by loose sintering with space-holder materials had mechanical properties close to those of human spongy bone (Young´s modulus 0.2-2 GPa, compression strength 50 MPa). Porous Ti-40Nb samples were coated with bone-like hydroxyapatite by an electrochemical deposition method in order to improve the osseointegration of the samples with bone tissue. The experiments were carried out with samples produced by different routes and a correlation between the deposition parameters and the morphology of the hydroxyapatite needles was found

Production of porous β-Type Ti–40Nb alloy for biomedical applications: Comparison of selective laser melting and hot pressing

We used selective laser melting (SLM) and hot pressing of mechanically-alloyed β-type Ti–40Nb powder to fabricate macroporous bulk specimens (solid cylinders). The total porosity, compressive strength, and compressive elastic modulus of the SLM-fabricated material were determined as 17% ± 1%, 968 ± 8 MPa, and 33 ± 2 GPa, respectively. The alloy’s elastic modulus is comparable to that of healthy cancellous bone. The comparable results for the hot-pressed material were 3% ± 2%, 1400 ± 19 MPa, and 77 ± 3 GPa. This difference in mechanical properties results from different porosity and phase composition of the two alloys. Both SLM-fabricated and hot-pressed cylinders demonstrated good in vitro biocompatibility. The presented results suggest that the SLM-fabricated alloy may be preferable to the hot-pressed alloy for biomedical applications, such as the manufacture of load-bearing metallic components for total joint replacements

Porous ß-type Ti-Nb alloy for biomedical applications

One of the most important factors for a successful performance of a load-bearing implant for hard tissue replacement is its mechanical compatibility with human bone. That implies that the stiffness should be close to that of a bone and the strength of the implant material must be high enough to bear the load applied under physiological conditions. The Young´s modulus of most of the commonly used biomedical alloys is larger than that of a human bone (around 100 GPa for cp Ti, 112 GPa for Ti-6Al-4V versus 10-30 GPa for cortical human bone). A stiffness reduction of Ti alloys can be achieved by two approaches: (i) selecting an alloy composition with low Young´s modulus i.e. a ß-type alloy and (ii) introducing a reasonable amount of porosity. The composition of Ti-40Nb was chosen for the present work, as it allows to stabilize a single ß-type phase with low Young´s modulus at room temperature. The samples were produced by a powder metallurgical approach. The Ti-40Nb alloy powder was obtained by ball-milling of elemental Ti and Nb powders. The influence of the milling parameters on the oxygen content in the milled powder was studied. Powders with a lowest oxygen content of 0.4 wt.-% had an almost single ß-type phase after heat treatment and quenching. Porous samples were produced by loose powder sintering, hot-pressing and sintering with NaCl as a space-holder. The influence of the different processing routes and different porosities on the mechanical properties of the alloy was studied. The samples produced by loose powder sintering had mechanical properties close to those of cortical human bone (Young´s modulus 20 GPa, compression strength 150 MPa) and the samples produced by loose sintering with space-holder materials had mechanical properties close to those of human spongy bone (Young´s modulus 0.2-2 GPa, compression strength 50 MPa). Porous Ti-40Nb samples were coated with bone-like hydroxyapatite by an electrochemical deposition method in order to improve the osseointegration of the samples with bone tissue. The experiments were carried out with samples produced by different routes and a correlation between the deposition parameters and the morphology of the hydroxyapatite needles was found

Porous ß-type Ti-Nb alloy for biomedical applications

One of the most important factors for a successful performance of a load-bearing implant for hard tissue replacement is its mechanical compatibility with human bone. That implies that the stiffness should be close to that of a bone and the strength of the implant material must be high enough to bear the load applied under physiological conditions. The Young´s modulus of most of the commonly used biomedical alloys is larger than that of a human bone (around 100 GPa for cp Ti, 112 GPa for Ti-6Al-4V versus 10-30 GPa for cortical human bone). A stiffness reduction of Ti alloys can be achieved by two approaches: (i) selecting an alloy composition with low Young´s modulus i.e. a ß-type alloy and (ii) introducing a reasonable amount of porosity. The composition of Ti-40Nb was chosen for the present work, as it allows to stabilize a single ß-type phase with low Young´s modulus at room temperature. The samples were produced by a powder metallurgical approach. The Ti-40Nb alloy powder was obtained by ball-milling of elemental Ti and Nb powders. The influence of the milling parameters on the oxygen content in the milled powder was studied. Powders with a lowest oxygen content of 0.4 wt.-% had an almost single ß-type phase after heat treatment and quenching. Porous samples were produced by loose powder sintering, hot-pressing and sintering with NaCl as a space-holder. The influence of the different processing routes and different porosities on the mechanical properties of the alloy was studied. The samples produced by loose powder sintering had mechanical properties close to those of cortical human bone (Young´s modulus 20 GPa, compression strength 150 MPa) and the samples produced by loose sintering with space-holder materials had mechanical properties close to those of human spongy bone (Young´s modulus 0.2-2 GPa, compression strength 50 MPa). Porous Ti-40Nb samples were coated with bone-like hydroxyapatite by an electrochemical deposition method in order to improve the osseointegration of the samples with bone tissue. The experiments were carried out with samples produced by different routes and a correlation between the deposition parameters and the morphology of the hydroxyapatite needles was found

Mechanical and Corrosion Behavior of New Generation Ti-45Nb Porous Alloys Implant Devices

Strategies to improve the mechanical compatibility of Ti-based materials for hard tissue implant applications are directed towards significant stiffness reduction by means of the adjustment of suitable β-phases and porous device architectures. In the present study, the effect of different compaction routes of the gas-atomized β-Ti-45Nb powder on the sample architecture, porosity, and on resulting mechanical properties in compression was investigated. Green powder compacted and sintered at 1000 °C had a porosity varying between 8% and 12%, strength between 260 and 310 MPa, and Young’s modulus ranging between 18 and 21 GPa. Hot pressing of the powder without or with subsequent sintering resulted in microporosity varying between 1% and 3%, ultimate strength varying between 635 and 735 MPa, and Young’s modulus between 55 and 69 GPa. Samples produced with NaCl space-holder by hot-pressing resulted in a macroporosity of 45% and a high strength of ˃200 MPa, which is higher than the strength of a human cortical bone. Finally, the corrosion tests were carried out to prove that the presence of residual NaCl traces will not influence the performance of the porous implant in the human body

Production of Porous β-Type Ti–40Nb Alloy for Biomedical Applications: Comparison of Selective Laser Melting and Hot Pressing

We used selective laser melting (SLM) and hot pressing of mechanically-alloyed β-type Ti–40Nb powder to fabricate macroporous bulk specimens (solid cylinders). The total porosity, compressive strength, and compressive elastic modulus of the SLM-fabricated material were determined as 17% ± 1%, 968 ± 8 MPa, and 33 ± 2 GPa, respectively. The alloy’s elastic modulus is comparable to that of healthy cancellous bone. The comparable results for the hot-pressed material were 3% ± 2%, 1400 ± 19 MPa, and 77 ± 3 GPa. This difference in mechanical properties results from different porosity and phase composition of the two alloys. Both SLM-fabricated and hot-pressed cylinders demonstrated good in vitro biocompatibility. The presented results suggest that the SLM-fabricated alloy may be preferable to the hot-pressed alloy for biomedical applications, such as the manufacture of load-bearing metallic components for total joint replacements

Amine-Reactive BODIPY Dye: Spectral Properties and Application for Protein Labeling

A boron-dipyrromethene (BODIPY) derivative reactive towards amino groups of proteins (NHS-Ph-BODIPY) was synthesized. Spectroscopic and photophysical properties of amine-reactive NHS-Ph-BODIPY and its non-reactive precursor (COOH-Ph-BODIPY) in a number of organic solvents were investigated. Both fluorescent dyes were characterized by green absorption (521–532 nm) and fluorescence (538–552 nm) and medium molar absorption coefficients (46,500–118,500 M−1·cm−1) and fluorescence quantum yields (0.32 – 0.73). Solvent polarizability and dipolarity were found to play a crucial role in solvent effects on COOH-Ph-BODIPY and NHS-Ph-BODIPY absorption and emission bands maxima. Quantum-chemical calculations were used to show why solvent polarizability and dipolarity are important as well as to understand how the nature of the substituent affects spectroscopic properties of the fluorescent dyes. NHS-Ph-BODIPY was used for fluorescent labeling of a number of proteins. Conjugation of NHS-Ph-BODIPY with bovine serum albumin (BSA) resulted in bathochromic shifts of absorption and emission bands and noticeable fluorescence quenching (about 1.5 times). It was demonstrated that the sensitivity of BSA detection with NHS-Ph-BODIPY was up to eight times higher than with Coomassie brilliant blue while the sensitivity of PII-like protein PotN (PotN) detection with NHS-Ph-BODIPY and Coomassie brilliant blue was almost the same. On the basis of the molecular docking results, the most probable binding sites of NHS-Ph-BODIPY in BSA and PotN and the corresponding binding free energies were estimated