Researchers at the University of Oviedo in Spain have designed an ultra-sensitive method to detect the concentration of titanium in human blood, which helps to measure the difference in the levels of titanium in the patients treated for titanium orthopedic implants and in the untreated people.
Titanium implants are normally utilized for dental work and bone fractures. Recent studies revealed that titanium implants suffer corrosion and degradation, resulting in the production of metallic wastes that will cause renal lesions and hepatic injury due to their adverse biological effects. The new method, which is a combination of isotope dilution analysis and mass spectrometry (IDA-ICP-MS), is useful in detecting such leaks by precisely measuring the concentrations of titanium in blood.
By using the IDA-ICP-MS method, the researchers analyzed the blood samples of 40 normal people and 37 patients treated for titanium implants, of which 14 were treated for humerus implants, 8 treated for femur implants and 15 had tibia implants. They observed that the titanium concentrations in the blood of patients treated for surgical implants are considerably higher than that of the healthy individuals.
The researchers also observed that the titanium concentrations varied with the types of implant devices. The more invasive implants produce more amount of metallic waste into the blood compared to superficial, external fixations. They also determined the process of accumulation of titanium into the bloodstream from the implants.
Source: http://www.springer.com