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Steel vs. Titanium Rods

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  • Steel vs. Titanium Rods

    Since steel rods obscure MRIs and probably other forms of imaging, why are they being used anymore?
    Why not use titanium rods all the time? Anyone know?

    Guess which ones I have.

  • #2
    I am not sure but I have titanium rods and they cause distortion in imaging. I would guess all metal is capable of that. Titanium is used because it isn't magnetic and it is strong.
    T10-pelvis fusion 12/08
    C5,6,7 fusion 9/10
    T2--T10 fusion 2/11
    C 4-5 fusion 11/14
    Right scapulectomy 6/15
    Right pectoralis major muscle transfer to scapula
    To replace the action of Serratus Anterior muscle 3/16
    Broken neck 9/28/2018
    Emergency surgery posterior fusion C4- T3
    Repeated 11/2018 because rods pulled apart added T2 fusion
    Removal of partial right thoracic hardware 1/2020
    Removal and replacement of C4-T10 hardware with C7 and T 1
    Osteotomy

    Comment


    • #3
      Surgeons will pick different metals or materials for different reasons....

      Most sites will state "Titanium" is MRI able. The truth is that CT and MRI optical clarity depends on the "alloy" or mixture of elements, its manufacturing process, and methods used in MRI software and machinery....The good news is that CT and MRI machines are improving all the time.

      Both manufacturing process for 316LVM and 6Al 7Nb use a (VAR) Vacuum Arc remelt process to control the integrity of the metal. Then after you bend metal, internal structures then get altered quite a bit....(rod breaks)

      My rods were pre-bent at the factory....The process and procedure of bending metal is important. I suppose that at some point in the future, one could setup a bending machine and run software to control the process and do this in the operating room (or next to it) while surgery is happening. Having perfect bends in your rods is a good thing. A scoliosis surgeons dream.

      What shape did you want? A video example of just some of the technology in this area
      https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=SQIY...vitKubal%C4%B1

      Saying "steel" is a general term. It's like saying wood. There are 3500 different types of steels and alloys, and many stainless steels for many different applications.

      Biomedically speaking, there are not as many materials you can use in the human body but they are constantly working in this area. On the topic of material science, everything changes when used in the body...it's a whole new set of rules with some of it unknown. Studies are warranted (Tissue reaction for example) when new materials are proposed or discovered.
      https://www.dovepress.com/new-biomat...xt-article-ORR

      316LVM has been a standard implant material for a really long time. Zimmer selected this material in 1960 for Dr Harrington for his Harrington rods. They use this material for all sorts of different implants...

      Hope this helped a little bit....

      It's hard to do short answers sometimes.

      Ed
      49 yr old male, now 63, the new 64...
      Pre surgery curves T70,L70
      ALIF/PSA T2-Pelvis 01/29/08, 01/31/08 7" pelvic anchors BMP
      Dr Brett Menmuir St Marys Hospital Reno,Nevada

      Bending and twisting pics after full fusion
      http://www.scoliosis.org/forum/showt...on.&highlight=

      My x-rays
      http://www.scoliosis.org/forum/attac...2&d=1228779214

      http://www.scoliosis.org/forum/attac...3&d=1228779258

      Comment


      • #4
        Ed you are a wealth of information. Thank you.
        T10-pelvis fusion 12/08
        C5,6,7 fusion 9/10
        T2--T10 fusion 2/11
        C 4-5 fusion 11/14
        Right scapulectomy 6/15
        Right pectoralis major muscle transfer to scapula
        To replace the action of Serratus Anterior muscle 3/16
        Broken neck 9/28/2018
        Emergency surgery posterior fusion C4- T3
        Repeated 11/2018 because rods pulled apart added T2 fusion
        Removal of partial right thoracic hardware 1/2020
        Removal and replacement of C4-T10 hardware with C7 and T 1
        Osteotomy

        Comment


        • #5
          Questions and Answers in MRI

          The a material is "nonmagnetic" what we really mean is that it is not ferromagnetic. All materials are affected to some degree when a magnetic field is applied.

          http://mriquestions.com/types-of-metal.html

          http://mriquestions.com/index.html


          Ed
          49 yr old male, now 63, the new 64...
          Pre surgery curves T70,L70
          ALIF/PSA T2-Pelvis 01/29/08, 01/31/08 7" pelvic anchors BMP
          Dr Brett Menmuir St Marys Hospital Reno,Nevada

          Bending and twisting pics after full fusion
          http://www.scoliosis.org/forum/showt...on.&highlight=

          My x-rays
          http://www.scoliosis.org/forum/attac...2&d=1228779214

          http://www.scoliosis.org/forum/attac...3&d=1228779258

          Comment


          • #6
            First MRI Scanner

            Originally posted by jackieg412 View Post
            Ed you are a wealth of information. Thank you.
            MRI technology took the efforts of a lot of people, pioneers, over many years, and from all over the world.

            Of course I wonder about how and when certain devices and techniques evolved. In this Wiki article, it states that the first images happened on August 28, 1980. Scroll down to see the first scanner used in London from 1983 to 1993. It's very Frankenstein....(smiley face)
            https://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Histor...onance_imaging

            Thanks for the appreciation. It's hard to try to get answers on some questions without speed reading through a mountain of material. Funny also since I will see other scoliosis subjects of interest. Sometimes I will pitch a tidbit, sometimes not. The subject of surrounding tissues on hardware is of interest to me right now, and none of this material is easy to convey in a lay post.

            Questions are easy and answers are hard, if not impossible.

            Looking at the history of these devices.....and thinking 1980, John Lennon would have been 80 today. The Beatles record company EMI contributed towards the development of the CT machine in the early 1970's.

            Ed
            49 yr old male, now 63, the new 64...
            Pre surgery curves T70,L70
            ALIF/PSA T2-Pelvis 01/29/08, 01/31/08 7" pelvic anchors BMP
            Dr Brett Menmuir St Marys Hospital Reno,Nevada

            Bending and twisting pics after full fusion
            http://www.scoliosis.org/forum/showt...on.&highlight=

            My x-rays
            http://www.scoliosis.org/forum/attac...2&d=1228779214

            http://www.scoliosis.org/forum/attac...3&d=1228779258

            Comment

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