Corrosion and fracture of type 316 SMO orthopedic implants

Abstract

SummaryOrthopedic appliances of type 316 (SMO) stainless steel were examined in detail after being removed from human subjects. Techniques included conventional microscopy with various lighting methods, together with electron microscope fractography. Corrosion, fatigue failure, and manufacturing defects were identified and statistically tabulated. of all mult icomponent devices and the overall incidence of fracture failure was 9%. These results indicate an urgent ueed for st,ronger, more corrosion-resistant implant alloys. Corrosion damage occurred on 91Metals and alloys are presently used in a number of implantable bioassists, such as pacemakers and heart valves. The most widespread use is, of course, in the multitude of orthopedic devices used as fixtures and prostheses. With these devices, as with any other engineering component, the examination of a part which has seen service can provide valuable design information. Too frequently the necessary information is riot obtained because of a lack of proper technical background or the destruction or omission of unrecognized evidence.The problem of materials in relation to surgical or orthopedic implants has been the subject of previous investigations conducted by Scales et at.',2 and Cohen. Scales examined devices of various compositions extracted a t random for evidence of corrosion, while Cohen examined devices removed for cause. I t was discovered in both these studies that corrosion was occurring in a considerable number of cases. This investigation enlarges the available information on 316 SR'IO and presetits details previously not obtained. 247

Survey of materials for hard‐tissue prosthesis

“…A variety of avoidable fabrication and compositional defects in failed orthopedic devices have been reported by the previous authors [4] and by Cahoon and Paxton [5], The latter also reported [6] that from a sampling of stainless steel and vitallium orthopedic implants over 50% contained defects of the kind which had previously shown to cause failure. For example, some items had local Mo content below 2.0%, a situation which can enhance pitting corrosion in 316 steels.…”

The impact of nanocolloidal wear‐particles on human mononuclear cells

“…The majority of recent in vitro studies on metallic implant materials have employed prefabricated wear particles. Most likely such particles are oxidized and have formed a passivating surface layer prior to use, greatly reducing the amount of released soluble metal in the cell culture medium [11,14,15].…”

Corrosion behavior of metallic materials in biomedical applications. II. Stainless steels and Co-Cr alloys

“…A study of 316 stainless steel orthopedic implants in 1969 found that 91% of multicomponent devices exhibited corrosion that was mainly crevice type (Colangelo & Greene, 1969). A subsequent study of 316L internal fixation plates removed from patients between 1977 and 1985 found that 89% of the plates exhibited crevice corrosion (Cook et al, 1987).…”