The Curious Technologist-
- EMPA materials scientist Kerstin Thorwarth displays the diamond-like carbon coated intervertebral disc joint implant.
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- Three intervertebral disc implants. Uncoated implant (right), DLC-coated implant with unsatisfactory bonding agent and the corresponding corrosion (middle) and stable DLC-coated implant (left).
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- A cross-section of a coated intervertebral disc implant under a scanning electron microscope. The implant is cobalt-chromium-molybdenum, the coating is DLC and the bonding agent between is tantalum.
Implants That Last A Lifetime?
Researchers in Switzerland say they have coupled advanced coating and bonding agents to build joint replacement implants that should last a person’s lifetime.
The joint implant surface made at the Swiss Federal Laboratories for Materials Science and Technology (EMPA) is called diamond-like carbon (DLC), a superhard material that is extremely resistant to abrasive wear. Such coatings have been used on implants before, but previous attempts have seen the material bonded to the rest of the device with compounds that quickly corroded.
Now this is an area that badly needs advancement. Hooray for coatings! Hooray for materials science!
