Biological properties of niobium metal

Niobium improves implant corrosion resistance and biocompatibility. As early as 1991, some scholars conducted relevant research and analysis on pure titanium implants and pure niobium implants implanted in rabbit bones. The results showed that the opening torque of pure niobium implants was significantly higher than that of pure titanium implants, and it was speculated that This may be due to the more irregular surface morphology of pure niobium implants relative to pure titanium implants. However, more research still tends to improve the biocompatibility of titanium alloys by introducing niobium elements into titanium alloys to reduce the precipitation of toxic metal (such as nickel, vanadium) ions in titanium alloys, and to reduce the elastic modulus of titanium alloys and Improve the mechanical strength of implants. The researchers tested the effects of 15 commonly used biomaterial elements on the bioactivity of osteoblast-like cells. The results showed that vanadium and nickel were much more cytotoxic than niobium, both in particulate and ionic forms. Researchers found soft niobium-titanium alloys with niobium content ranging from 5% to 50% and found that titanium alloys with 25% niobium content had the highest cell activity. The researcher said that as the niobium content increases, the formation of oxide nanotubes on the surface of titanium alloy accelerates. Nanotubes grown by electrochemical anodization, due to their hollow structure, can be loaded onto the implant surface before surgery to complete local drug delivery, such as antibiotics or growth factors. By varying the niobium content and parameters of electrochemical anodization, the geometric parameters, physical and mechanical properties of the nanotubes can be controlled to create implants with specific characteristics that best meet the requirements of clinical goals.