We live in a wonderful time of impressive technological and medical advancements. We can treat many disorders, but unfortunately, we cannot treat aging. In other words, despite living longer, we fall prey to old age and its numerous ills. One of the most common issues that come with aging is getting a bad knee. Fortunately, there is a fix: knee replacement surgery. To learn about which of the materials used in a knee replacement surgery is best suited for you, check out this article!

Learn About The Most Common Materials Used In A Knee Replacement

Knee and other joint replacements are becoming increasingly common procedures. If your doctor has recommended a knee replacement, you may be wondering what artificial knees are made of. Here are some of the most common materials used to manufacture artificial knee implants.

Metals

Manufacturers create many of the parts in a prosthetic joint from metal. Medical grade alloys provide strength and flexibility, allowing them to safely and effectively replace bone segments in many patients. Most of the implant pieces that attach to the long bones are made from such materials.

Some of the most common metals you will find in knee replacement surfaces are titanium alloys. They are incredibly lightweight and strong, and they resist corrosion. Titanium is actually biocompatible. This means it will likely not disrupt the surrounding tissue or cause a negative immune response.

For example, cobalt-chromium alloys are another type of biocompatible metal that is also popular in knee replacements. Due to the fact that they have similar properties to titanium alloys, doctors consider them virtually interchangeably.

Nickel is also a metal that you can consider. However, since nickel is a component of cobalt-chromium alloy, it is not suitable for people with nickel allergies.

Thanks to their adaptable properties, titanium, and cobalt-chromium blends have largely replaced surgical grade stainless steel in artificial and replacement joints. In fact, doctors use stainless steel a lot in temporary implants such as screws and plates.

Polyethylene

Generally, surgeons prefer to use plastics like polyethylene to recreate the knee cap in a total knee replacement. However, they also use plastics as smaller pads or inserts in partial replacement procedures. These create the metal on a plastic joint that replaces your natural system of bone and cartilage.

Ceramics

A relative newcomer for knee and hip replacements, ceramics may offer longer functional lifespans on prosthetic joints. There is virtually no risk of allergy with them, and their very low wear rate contributes to their long-lasting performance. For example, manufacturers create ceramic implants from a Zirconium alloy.

To sum up, getting old is no longer such a burden for the modern man. Thanks to impressive advances in technology and medicine we can replace the faulty parts of our bodies. Such a replacement is the knee replacement. While previous decades made this intervention impossible, we can now rest assured that there is a fix! What’s more, we can even choose which of the materials used in a knee replacement we want!