Investigating mechanical deformation's role in cochlear implant durability.

Platinum and platinum-based alloys are used as the electrode material in cochlear implants because of the biocompatibility and the favorable electrochemical properties. Still, these implants can fail over time. The present study was conducted to shed light on the effects of microstructure on the electrochemical degradation of platinum.

An exploration of plastic deformation dependence of cell viability and adhesion in metallic implant materials.

The relationship between cell viability and adhesion behavior, and micro-deformation mechanisms was investigated on austenitic 316L stainless steel samples, which were subjected to different amounts of plastic strains (5%, 15%, 25%, 35% and 60%) to promote a variety in the slip and twin activities in the microstructure. Confocal laser scanning microscopy (CLSM) and field emission scanning electron microscopy (FESEM) revealed that cells most favored the samples with the largest plastic deformation, such that they spread more and formed significant filopodial extensions. Specifically, brain tumor cells seeded on the 35% deformed samples exhibited the best adhesion performance, where a significant slip activity was prevalent, accompanied by considerable slip-twin interactions.

Evaluation of the biocompatibility of NiTi dental wires: a comparison of laboratory experiments and clinical conditions.

Effects of intraoral environment on the surface degradation of nickel-titanium (NiTi) shape memory alloy orthodontic wires was simulated through ex situ static immersion experiments in artificial saliva. The tested wires were compared to companion wires retrieved from patients in terms of chemical changes and formation of new structures on the surface. Results of the ex situ experiments revealed that the acidic erosion effective at the earlier stages of immersion led to the formation of new structures as the immersion period approached 30 days.

Evaluation of passive oxide layer formation-biocompatibility relationship in NiTi shape memory alloys: geometry and body location dependency.

A systematic set of ex-situ experiments were carried out on Nickel-Titanium (NiTi) shape memory alloy (SMA) in order to identify the dependence of its biocompatibility on sample geometry and body location. NiTi samples with three different geometries were immersed into three different fluids simulating different body parts. The changes observed in alloy surface and chemical content of fluids upon immersion experiments designed for four different time periods were analyzed in terms of ion release, oxide layer formation, and chemical composition of the surface layer.

Estimation of fracture toughness of liver tissue: experiments and validation.

The mechanical interaction between the surgical tools and the target soft tissue is mainly dictated by the fracture toughness of the tissue in several medical procedures, such as catheter insertion, robotic-guided needle placement, suturing, cutting or tearing, and biopsy. Despite the numerous experimental works on the fracture toughness of hard biomaterials, such as bone and dentin, only a very limited number of studies have focused on soft tissues, where the results do not show any consistency mainly due to the negligence of the puncturing/cutting tool geometry. In order to address this issue, we performed needle insertion experiments on 3 bovine livers with 4 custom-made needles having different diameters.