Surgical Stainless Steel Lambert M Surhone

Publisher Marketing: Please note that the content of this book primarily consists of articles available from Wikipedia or other free sources online. Surgical stainless steel is a specific type of stainless steel, used in medical applications. The chromium gives the metal its scratch-resistance and corrosion resistance. The nickel provides a smooth and polished finish. The molybdenum gives greater hardness, and helps maintaining a cutting edge. Although there are myriad variations in the recipes, there are two main varieties of stainless steel: martensitic and austenitic; see the stainless steel article. The word 'surgical' refers to the fact that these types of steel are well-suited for making surgical instruments: they are easy to clean and sterilize, strong and corrosion-resistant. The nickel/chrome/molybdenum alloys are also used for orthopaedic implants as aids in bone repair, as a structural part of artificial heart valves, and other implants. Immune system reaction to nickel is a potential complication. In some cases today titanium is used instead in procedures that require a metal implant which will be permanent. Titanium is a reactive metal, the surface of which quickly oxidizes on exposure to air, creating a microstructured stable oxide surface.