Titanium is used widely in medical applications including hips, knees and bone screws.
The use of titanium in medical applications dates back to the 1950’s when the material was first used. It is now the primary choice of material for orthopedic applications including hip joints, knee joints, bone screws, bone plates, spinal fusion cages, and shoulder and elbow joints.
The reasons why titanium is chosen over other materials is because of its inertness with the human body, it is resistant to body fluids and is compatible with the density of bone, due to its strength and low modulus which makes it an ideal material for orthopedic applications.
The human body does not reject titanium and it has proven to have better compatibility than cobalt chrome or stainless steel. Alongside titanium has a higher fatigue level than other metals. Titanium is is compatible with CT (Computed Technology) Scanning and MRI (Magnetic Resonance Imaging) Scanning which also add to the many reasons why titanium is the metal of choice in orthopedic applications.