ABSTRACT

The rejection of the implants by the body and the need for replacement after a few years has exaggerated not only the cost, but also requires complicated surgical procedures. This has demanded the use of novel technologies that incorporate nanostructured metal implants with enhanced healing time and biocompatibility. The development of fine grained nanomaterials has gained increased interest due to the possibility of obtaining improved mechanical properties compared to conventional coarse-grained materials. Among the metals and alloys known, stainless steel, Co-Cr alloys, titanium, and its alloys are the most widely used for the making of bio-implants (Mudali, 2003, Zheng, 2011). Of these, titanium and its alloys have shown to have high strength-toweight ratio, good corrosion resistance, excellent physio-mechanical, and biocompatibility properties hence favoring its use in orthopedics (Callister, 1994, Oliveira, 1998, Aragon, 1972, Bagambisa and Joos, 1990).