Institute of Metal Research, Chinese Academy of Sciences, Shenyang 110016, China.
Suzhou Silvan Medical Co Ltd, Suzhou 215000, China.
J Mech Behav Biomed Mater. 2022 Jan;125:104926. doi: 10.1016/j.jmbbm.2021.104926. Epub 2021 Oct 30.
Cu-bearing titanium alloy has been proved to have excellent antibacterial properties, which can effectively reduce the incidence of infection caused by implantation. On the other hand, the addition of Cu in the titanium alloy can also significantly improve the strength of the alloy due to the dispersed precipitation of TiCu compounds in matrix, which will enhance the biomechanical safety of Cu-bearing antibacterial titanium alloys. In this study, a Ti6Al4V5Cu antibacterial titanium alloy and the ordinary Ti6Al4V titanium alloy were used to make a variety of orthopedic trauma repair implants, including bone pin, bone screw and bone plate. Through the internationally accepted test methods, the mechanical properties such as tension, torsion and bending of the implants were studied, and the difference between the implants made of two materials was analyzed. The results showed that the tensile strength of Ti6Al4V5Cu pin was 25% higher than that of Ti6Al4V pin, the torsion strength of the screw was increased up to 89%, the static bending load of the plate was increased by 67-89%, and the maximum loading force of the plate after 1 million cycles of four point dynamic bending was increased by 41-91%. The above improvements should be attributed to the strengthening effect of Cu in the antibacterial titanium alloy, indicating that the Cu-bearing antibacterial titanium alloy implant possesses both advantages of reducing the bacterial infection and improving the biomechanical safety, and a broad clinical application prospects.
含铜钛合金已被证实具有优异的抗菌性能，可有效降低植入物引发感染的几率。另一方面，铜在钛合金中的添加也可以显著提高合金的强度，因为 TiCu 化合物在基体中的弥散沉淀会增强含铜抗菌钛合金的生物力学安全性。在这项研究中，使用 Ti6Al4V5Cu 抗菌钛合金和普通 Ti6Al4V 钛合金制造了各种骨科创伤修复植入物，包括骨钉、骨螺钉和骨板。通过国际公认的测试方法，研究了植入物的拉伸、扭转和弯曲等力学性能，并分析了两种材料制成的植入物之间的差异。结果表明，Ti6Al4V5Cu 钉的拉伸强度比 Ti6Al4V 钉高 25%，螺钉的扭转强度增加了 89%，板的静态弯曲载荷增加了 67-89%，经过 100 万次四点动态弯曲循环后，板的最大加载力增加了 41-91%。上述改进应归因于抗菌钛合金中铜的强化作用，表明含铜抗菌钛合金植入物既具有降低细菌感染的优势，又具有提高生物力学安全性的优势，具有广阔的临床应用前景。
