Titanium implanted with platinum

Electrochemical Behavior of Titanium Implanted with Platinum (RBS)... 

Titaiuum is a silvery ductile metal with important industrial uses because it is less dense than iron, much stronger than aluminum, and almost as corrosion resistant as platinum. This rare combination of properties makes it ideal for a variety of uses, particularly in engines, aircraft frames, marine equipment, and industrial plants. Titanium metal and alloys also replace bone and serve in dental implants. At normal... 

In a biosensor application, Wolfson and his research group [10] employed microfabrication techniques to produce miniature electrodes for potential implantable, non-enzyme-based glucose sensors. Thin-film techniques, such as DC magnetron-sputtered processing, were used to deposit platinum film or platinum film enhanced with titanium film on quartz substrates. The geometric shapes of the quartz substrate include cylindrical rods and rectangular plates in a... 

The present electrodes arrays are simply a bundle of platinum/iridium (Pt/Ir) wires welded to platinum strips acting as stimulation sites. The amount of electrodes and material choices are different per manufacturer and model. Some of them have implants made of titanium wires, attached to approximately 20 titanium electrodes, which are coated with a soft bio-compatible polymer. There are three major Cl manufacturers Advanced Bionics, Cochlear and MED-EL. An electrode array from MED-EL is shown in Fig. 3. 

Materials such as platinum, titanium, silicon rubber, some fluropolymers, and various polyurethanes are among the mainstays in this industry, along with a few exotic nickel-based superaJloys. The most common material found in implantable medical devices is likely 316 stainless steel. Other than improved wear resistance, there is little driving force for advancing materials in this application. 

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