Study of corrosion in femoral implant

Bioimplants are subject to severe conditions in the human body as they must coexist with tissue environment that makes their metallic parts susceptible to corrosion. Extracellular tissue fluids constitute an oxygenated aqueous solution containing different salts and glucose, an electron-conducting medium of chloride ions that elicits electrochemical corrosion phenomena and interferes with the optimum performance of implants by disturbing their interrelation with bone tissue. The intense wear and tear of implants may require surgical removal and replacement. This paper reports on the corrosion sustained by a femoral prosthesis that had been implanted in a female patient during total cemented arthroplasty due to a left femoral neck fracture in 1997. Generalized in situ corrosion was observed upon implant retrieval, prompting analysis by both optic and electron microscopy (SEM), as well as by infrared spectroscopy with a Fourier transform. The analysis confirmed the ongoing corrosion process brought about by the contact of the prosthetic component with organic and inorganic compounds in the cellular fluids.