Whether Cu is biocompatible ? If it is alloyed with bio compatible material such as Zirconium, what will be the biocompatibility of the binary alloy system?
Copper cannot be used as the question you are asking. Due to the physical and chemical properties, copper is used in minimum quantities in various dental casting alloys just to impart a favorable property to the alloy. The possibility of causing discoloration of Zirconium is always a concern, along with vulnerability of copper to oxidise makes it even more non compatible. The danger of release of Cu ions in oral cavity or absorption in circulation may cause toxicity, and not to forget the possibility of carcinogenic potential of copper. Copper is not physically strong and in combination with a brittle compound i.e. Zirconium makes it unfavorable.
These are just some of the short comming of copper is considered to use. There is no reference i could quote for the statements i have made, but logical deduction got me to some of the above conclusion.
Hi Vignesh
Toxicity of copper(II) ions is well known for biological systems. copper is heavy metal which is essential for metabolism just in trace amount and at higher concentrations it can lead to poisoning. generally copper is not a desirable biomaterial(as well as most metals) and in the case of implantation in physiological media could leak toxic ions. in my opinion synthesis of alloy metallic implant with Zirconium is not proper method dealing with this problem because it dose not address properly the toxic ion problem of copper
Copper can be included at Ti–Ni based shape memory alloys used at biomedical devices ─ e.g. orthodontic wires ─ either to improve their mechanical properties and/or to better regulate the transformation temperature. Corrosion and concomitant leaching of copper ions must be limited under a safe threshold for the kind of application considered. Among related references, you may check: F.J. Gil, J.A. Planell, "Effect of copper addition on the superelastic behavior of Ni–Ti shape memory alloys for orthodontic applications", J. Biomed. Mater. Res., 48(5), 1999, 682-688; G. Rondelli, B. Vicentini, "Effect of copper on the localized corrosion resistance of Ni–Ti shape memory alloy", Biomaterials, 23(3), 2002, 639-644; M. Es-Souni, M. Es-Souni, H.F. Brandies, "On the transformation behavior, mechanical properties and biocompatibility of two NiTi-based shape memory alloys: NiTi42 and NiTi42Cu7", Biomaterials, 22(15), 2001, 2153–2161.
http://www.ncbi.nlm.nih.gov/pubmed/10490682
http://www.sciencedirect.com/science/article/pii/S0142961201001429
http://www.sciencedirect.com/science/article/pii/S0142961200004063
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