The Process of Porous Tantalum Implants Osseous Integration a Review

Porous tantalum is a bio material that was recently-introduced in orthopedists in order to overcome problems of the past related toimplant loosening. Its use has led to very good results, especially indifficult cases where severe bone defect is present, as it is found to superconductive and possibly, osteoinductive properties. So, it is of greatinterest to shed light to the mechanisms through which this material leads tonew bone formation after being implanted. For this reason, a review of currents literature was undertook. Poroustantalum is, biologically, relatively inert, meaning that its bonding capacityto the bone is restricted. In order to overcome this obstacle, it undergoesthermal processing in alkaline environment. This process leads to extensivehydroxyapatite formation on its surface and thus, to better integration ofporous tantalum implants. Apart from this, new bone tissue formation occursinside the pores of porous tantalum after its implantation and this new boneretains the characteristics of normal bone, i.e., bone remodeling and Haversiansystems formation. This finding is enhanced by the observation that poroustantalum is an appropriate substrate for osteoblast adherence, proliferationand differentiation. Furthermore, the finding that osteoblasts derived from oldwomen (>60 years old) and cultivated on porous tantalum may grow faster thanosteoblasts taken from younger women (<45 years old) and cultivated on othersubstrates, can partially explain porous tantalum good performance in cases ofpatients with severe bone defects. In conclusion, porous tantalum chemical andmechanical properties are those that, probably, define the already noticed goodperformance of this material. However, further research is needed to totallyclarify the mechanisms through which they contribute to that.

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