Titanium-Alloy Bioimplant Surface Roughening for Bone Anchoring
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Solution Overview
Problem
Existing titanium-alloy implants, such as those made from Ti-6Al-4V, are not securely anchored to biological bones due to insufficient surface roughness, leading to inadequate initial securing force and prolonged therapeutic periods.
Innovation Solution
A surface roughening process involving macro blasting followed by acid etching is applied to create a titanium-alloy implant with a surface roughness value of at least 0.2 µm, enhancing the engagement with biological bones through fine unevenness at the sub-micrometer scale.
Engineering Contradictions & Design Principles
Engineering Contradiction Analysis
1Reliability
If conventional titanium-alloy implants with standard surface treatment are used, then the implant structure and material properties are simple and easy to manufacture, but the surface roughness is insufficient leading to inadequate securing force and prolonged therapeutic period
Solution Approach 1:
The patent applies preliminary surface roughening treatment (macro blasting followed by acid etching) to the implant surface before implantation. This creates fine unevenness at the sub-micrometer scale in advance, which immediately enhances the securing force when the implant is placed in bone, thereby reducing the therapeutic period required for bone integration.
2Reliability
If the surface roughness is increased to enhance bone integration, then the securing force and bone integration improve, but the manufacturing process complexity increases
Solution Approach 1:
The patent segments the surface treatment process into two distinct stages: macro blasting (creating initial surface roughness) followed by acid etching (creating fine sub-micrometer unevenness). This segmentation allows each process to be optimized independently while achieving the cumulative effect of enhanced surface roughness that improves bone integration.
Solution Approach 2:
The patent replaces purely mechanical surface treatment with a combination of mechanical blasting and chemical acid etching. The acid etching process chemically modifies the surface at the sub-micrometer scale, achieving fine roughness that mechanical processes alone cannot produce, thereby enhancing bone integration without excessive mechanical complexity.
Applied Scientific Principles
This section explains which scientific principles are used to turn an abstract innovation direction into a practical engineering solution.
Function Achieved in This Case
The enhanced surface roughness significantly increases the securing force, reducing the therapeutic period and ensuring stable implantation by promoting better bone integration.
Implementation Method 1
macro blasting followed by acid etching is applied to create a titanium-alloy implant with a surface roughness value of at least 0.2 µm
Implementation Method 2
macro blasting followed by acid etching is applied to create a titanium-alloy implant with a surface roughness value of at least 0.2 µm, enhancing the engagement with biological bones through fine unevenness at the sub-micrometer scale
Data Source
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AI summary
A biological implant is implantable in a base being a part of a living organism. The implant includes an implant body including at least an outer circumferential surface containing a titanium alloy. The implant body is implantable in the base. Based on a first curve indicating a profile of the surface of the implant body obtained with a measurement length of 25.4 µm and a second curve obtained by removing a long-wavelength component from the first curve at a cutoff value of 5 µm in image processing performed on an image of a cut surface of the implant body perpendicular to the outer circumferential surface of the implant body, an arithmetic mean roughness value as a surface roughness value Ra of the outer circumferential surface calculated using the second curve is greater than or equal to 0.2 µm.