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Shoulder Replacement


A variety of biomaterials are used in surgical implants, including investment cast titanium, cobalt-chromium, and stainless steel. In shoulder replacements, the ball portion of the joint is often metal, while the stem attached to it can be metal or another nonmetallic biomaterial.


Heart Valve Replacements


Stethoscope Some modern


hospital stethoscopes feature a diecast zinc electronics housing for the resonator—the device at the end of the scope that is placed against the patient’s body to listen to internal sounds.


Our heart valves keep the blood fl owing throughout our body, and when one or more of the heart valves are affected by disease, medical intervention often is necessary. Prosthetic heart valve replacements are life-saving devices that restore optimal function of the heart’s pumping action. A variety of replacement heart valves are used, including the tilting-disk prosthesis, which utilizes a titanium investment cast housing and mounting mechanism holding a carbon disk that mimics the opening and closing of a heart valve.


Hip Replacement


Most hip stems today are made of titanium or cobalt-chromium, while the ball portions can be either cobalt-chromium or ceramic. Titanium’s nonreactive properties, coupled with its high strength and low weight, make it a good candidate for joint replacement material. Sometimes, instead of a total hip replacement, patients undergo hip resurfacing, where the head of the thighbone is not removed but instead topped with a cast metal (typically titanium or cobalt-chromium) covering.


December 2015 MODERN CASTING


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