Characterization and Monitoring of Titanium Bone Implants with Impedance Spectroscopy

• Main Authors: Alberto Olmo, Miguel Hernández, Ernesto Chicardi, Yadir Torres
• Format: Article
• Language: English
• Published: MDPI AG 2020-08-01
• Series: Sensors
• Subjects: electrical impedance spectroscopy; smart implants; cortical bone tissue; porous titanium
• Online Access: https://www.mdpi.com/1424-8220/20/16/4358

Porous titanium is a metallic biomaterial with good properties for the clinical repair of cortical bone tissue, although the presence of pores can compromise its mechanical behavior and clinical use. It is therefore necessary to characterize the implant pore size and distribution in a suitable way. In this work, we explore the new use of electrical impedance spectroscopy for the characterization and monitoring of titanium bone implants. Electrical impedance spectroscopy has been used as a non-invasive route to characterize the volumetric porosity percentage (30%, 40%, 50% and 60%) and the range of pore size (100–200 and 355–500 mm) of porous titanium samples obtained with the space-holder technique. Impedance spectroscopy is proved to be an appropriate technique to characterize the level of porosity of the titanium samples and pore size, in an affordable and non-invasive way. The technique could also be used in smart implants to detect changes in the service life of the material, such as the appearance of fractures, the adhesion of osteoblasts and bacteria, or the formation of bone tissue.