Thomas Brzozowski, “Magnesium Based Orthopedic Implants and Controlling the Corrosion Rate”
Mentor: Pradeep Rohatgi, Materials Science & Engineering
Though magnesium has long been determined potentially effective as an orthopedic biomaterial for implants, the high corrosion rate has been difficult to control. Extensive research has been done on limiting the corrosion rate to extend the viability of orthopedic implants for bone regrowth. In this research, three methods of magnesium corrosion reduction were compared: alloying, surface coating, and magnesium syntactic composite synthesis. Of the aforementioned methods, the syntactic magnesium-hydroxyapatite composite foam shows the most potential. Since the foam is syntactic, the structure relies upon the degradation of magnesium to function. This magnesium corrosion rate can be controlled with alloying techniques on the metal. This gives potential for replacement with natural bone cell as the magnesium dissolves. The foams showed remarkable improvement of mechanical properties over a normal hydroxyapatite structure and has high potential for creating organic structures that promote bone regrowth. Through further testing and successful optimization of these magnesium-hydroxyapatite foam structures, the prospect of calculated corrosion and assisted bone regrowth in magnesium orthopedic implants becomes possible.
I wanted to start by saying thank your for presenting this information on magnesium based implants. I know the use of orthopedic implants has been growing, and it is fascinating to learn about the key methods for reducing magnesium corrosion rates. Based on your presentation, it sounds like the use of syntactic magnesium-hydroxyapatite composite foam has a lot of promise for the use of orthopedic implants. Though I have limited expertise in this area, I found the content of your presentation to be very clear and informative. I was able to easily follow the layout of both your poster and your verbal presentation, and the content that you conveyed has sparked my desire to learn more about the topic. I wish you well in your future studies. Thank you again for sharing this information.
Thank you for your presentation. I don’t have much background in this field. However, I’ve learn something about this topic from your presentation. As the previous commenter mentioned, your presentation is clear and informative. I hope that your desire to research in this area continues and make good contribution to this area!