Powder metallurgy: a promising route for bone implants fabrication

One of the major bone tissue engineering challenges is producing biocompatible and biomechanical compatible implants which are similar to bone structures. Titanium and titanium alloys are widely used as implants due to their high corrosion resistance, excellent strength and light weight. However, the dense titanium and titanium alloys are prone to lead into aseptic loosening. The elastic modulus of dense Ti alloys is in the range of 55-110 GPa which is significantly higher than that of natural bone (0.1-30 GPa) [1]. Usually there are two ways to lower the elastic modulus, one is to produce a porous structure of the metallic alloy by adjusting its porosity, and the other is to introduce β-alloying element. The porous structure allows bone to grow into the pores and lock the artificial implant for better fixation, and thus mimicking the natural bone structures.