Medical Applications of Titanium Help Save Lives
Titanium is a highly-prized metal known for its medical applications. With its amazing properties, the material is commonly found in medical devices, surgical instruments, body and orthodontic implants. Titanium is a valuable component that helps save lives of patients and improve the quality of their existence.
Strengths of Titanium
Highly resistant, low density and being stronger than aluminum or steel are just some of the attributes that make titanium suitable for different medical applications. In the field of orthodontics, titanium wires are used in all phases of orthodontic treatment. They are appreciated for their exceptional springiness. They are also known for their excellent formability.
Exceptional Uses
Not only does titanium assist in orthodontic treatment, they have other applications as well from the military, architectural (titanium-clad buildings) to the medical fields. Valuable surgical instruments use titanium wires because of their strength and malleability. Examples include suture instruments, scissors and forceps. For those who need medical implants, titanium is the choice metal from plates that help heart patients to hips that need replacement. In cases where there is a serious injury or accidents, patients can benefit from artificial hip joints, knee joints and bone plates. Pacemakers and screws to fix fractures make use of titanium in mending patients and improving recovery.
Reconstructive Surgery
What this shows is that titanium is fantastic material that has a lot of applications from engineering and science to dentistry and reconstructive surgery. Titanium in reconstructive surgery can even provide false eyelashes and much more. The metal can be used to put together the skull and the face. Titanium is an important material in prostheses that doctors fit on patients. They are safe components that produce good results, no complications and negligible morbidity. Reconstructive surgery not only saves lives but also improves self-esteem and ultimately, quality of life.
Titanium Breakthrough
Stents, tubing and catheters carry a risk of contamination, infection and blood clotting. The good news is engineers from the University of Colorado have invented a superhemophobic titanium that repels blood and infection. This could potentially save a lot of lives because there will be fewer body rejections with the surgical implants.
Titanium is sort of the new wonder kid on the block saving lives. It will not go out of fashion anytime soon and each day, researchers are working on how to expand medical technologies that will help the lives of everyone from aging baby boomers and children with afflictions to victims of accidents and diseases.