Titanium Research Paper Example | Topics and Well Written Essays - 1500 words

Titanium - Research Paper Example It can exist in 3 separate forms in nature and numerous alloys have been formed with other metals which only serve to increase its uses. One area where titanium has been found to be of utmost importance is in the medical industry. Medical implants with titanium or titanium alloys incorporated in them have been developed and made use of in the past few decades. This paper will examine the use of titanium in medical implants and its properties that contribute to this success, in particular its property of being non corrosive. 2. General properties of titanium Titanium is a transition metal which is found in the earth’s crust (Balazic et al, 2007). It is the fourth most abundant metal on earth and is found all over the world in volcanic and alluvial deposits. While ores such as rutile and ilmeinite are plentiful, titanium reacts with nitrogen, hydrogen and oxygen and is not easy to extract from its ore (Brunette et al, 2001). Extraction involves very expensive methods and a mere 5% of pure titanium is extracted from an ore usually (Brunette et al, 2001). The density of titanium is about half of that of steel though it is as strong as steel (Balazic et al, 2007). ... Metals commonly used to make stable the alpha form include aluminum, tin and oxygen. The beta form can be stabilized using metals like chromium, iron or vanadium. Using mixtures of both of these stabilizers leads to the production of alpha+beta titanium alloys (Brunette et al, 2001). 3. Uses of titanium Titanium has uses in many different fields including aerospace, power generation, automotive, chemical and petrochemical, sporting goods, dental and medical applications (Rack and Qaz, 2006; Sibum, 2003; Wang, 1996 from Balazic et al, 2007). The commercial aspects of titanium were only exploited in the 1940s (Balazic et al, 2007). Starting in the 1960s, titanium was used as a material in medical implants (Balazic et al, 2007). Now, over a 1000 tonnes or 2.2 million pounds of titanium are used in implants all over the world every year (The Titanium Information Group, 2003). Titanium alloys have also been used in the medical industry and there are three main types of alloys which have b een developed: alpha titanium alloys, beta titanium alloys and alpha+beta titanium alloys (Balazic et al, 2007). Of these, it is primarily beta alloys that are used in medical applications (Brunette et al, 2001) Some of the most common alloys that have been used include Titanium-Aluminum-Vanadium and Nickel-Titanium (Nitinol) (Balazic et al, 2007). Some of the main uses in implants are for bone or joint replacements, dental implants, maxillofacial and craniofacial uses, cardiovascular devices and external prostheses (The Titanium Information Group, 2003). It has also been used in medical fasteners and fixation devices (Brunette et al, 2001). 4. Desirable

Biology (medical botany) Essay Example | Topics and Well Written Essays - 2500 words

Biology (medical botany) - Essay Example Several findings and implications of the same are established in this study. It concluded that an inhibition was exhibited in the migration of the endothelial cells of the human umbilical cord, in vitro, due to the use of both drugs. Subsequently, the researchers noted that the result of the migration as synergistically inhibited was due to the combination of the two drugs; thus, implying that the drugs were synergestically related. In another perspective, the drugs indicated independent action modes given that artesunate, in XTT assay, repressed HUVEC growth, while captopril in XTT array did not in the entire range of the dose. In establishing the quail egg CAN assay, the study established that a significant reduction in the surface area of the vascular chorioallantoic membranes was noted. The artesunate is shown to have an impact on the growth and structure of the blood cells as witnessed in the veins of the eggs that did not turn red. However, the formation of the blood vessels was inhibited by both drugs, significantly, as compared to the DMSO, which was the negative control. In another finding that analysed the branching of the blood vessels in quail CAM assay, measurements made revealed that the branches fractions and lengths in quail eggs treated by both artesunate and captopril significantly differed from the DMSO with the P Consequently, in testing for the synergism between the captopril and artesunate in vivo, the IC50 values for both drugs were determined for single doses. The effect of this was that a substance that was not affected by the drug, its obtained vascular area was to be 50% of the negative control. If lower than 50%, then the substances acted antagonistically, while if higher than 50%, then the substances acted synergistically. In