Porous-surfaced metallic implants for orthopedic applications.

The fixation of orthopedic implants in bone by tissue ingrowth presents a possible solution to the problem of long-term implant loosening. To achieve this objective, metallic implants formed with porous surface coatings have been developed. This article reviews the methods proposed for fabricating such implants. Some possible problems related to loss of mechanical properties due to the processing to form the porous surface zone are described. For some of the porous-surfaced implant systems, processes have been developed to avoid the occurrence of such changes. It is particularly important at this stage of the evaluation of porous-surfaced implants in clinical situations that manufacturers are fully cognizant of the effects of processing on mechanical properties of these devices.