New, fast corroding high ductility Mg–Bi–Ca and Mg–Bi–Si alloys, with no clinically observable gas formation in bone implants

Current approaches to initial corrosion rate reduction of biodegradable magnesium alloys include alloying with rare earth elements, mechanical processing, coatings and the use of metallic glasses. The latter has limited ductility needed for implant adaptively to various surgery procedures. Furthermore, slow corroding magnesium alloys, coatings or metallic glasses have not proved to be fully dissolvable in vivo. With this in mind, we have developed a new class of biocompatible, biodegradable ductile magnesium alloys with 40% elongation at room temperature. The alloys are based on the Mg–Bi system and undergo a series of production routes, which include rapid solidification (RS) and various extrusion processes. The Mg–Bi–Si (B-BS) system exhibited a high corrosion rates in vitro and was excluded from in vivo screening. In preliminary experiments of Mg–Bi–Ca (B-BX) in rabbit femur bones, the alloy corroded rapidly without any clinically visible gas formation. Only 30% of the B-BX implant remained uncorroded after 4 weeks of implantation. After using low iron Mg for implant preparation the corrosion rate of HP-B-BX was reduced in bone leaving 70% of the implant uncorroded after 4 weeks, while the corrosion in intramuscular and subcutaneous sites were still high leaving only 40% and 10% uncorroded after 4 weeks. The foreign body reaction was very mild and enhanced bone formation could be observed in the vicinity of the corroding implant. Thus, these new magnesium alloys are potentially promising biomaterials, although more detailed in vivo studies need to be performed in actual implant situations.

► Biodegradable, biocompatible and highly ductile Mg alloys based on the Mg–Bi system have been produced by rapid solidification and extrusion processes.
► The implants corroded fast within the first 4 weeks after implantation in rabbit bone, but no gas formation has been clinically observed.
► The corrosion rate could be significantly reduced in vitro and in vivo by using high purity magnesium for the alloy production.