Ceramics in orthopedic surgery.

Ceramics are stable compounds of metals with oxygen or other anions. They have been considered for orthopedic implant applications for nearly three decades because of their wear resistance and biochemical inertness. After numerous efforts to realize this promise, ceramics have not achieved wide acceptance because of their brittleness that carries the risk of unpredictable catastrophic failure in load-bearing applications. Perhaps the brightest prospects for ceramics lie in their use as reinforcing fibers in composite implants and as calcium hydroxylapatite coatings on metal implants where it can induce direct bonding with bone.