Induction heating for the removal of liquid metal-based implant mimics: A proof-of-concept. (June 2022)

• Record Type: Journal Article
• Authors: Abbasi, Roozbeh; Tang, Jianbo; Baharfar, Mahroo; Zhang, Chengchen; Allioux, Francois-Marie; Zhang, Jin; Tajik, Mohammad; Yang, Jiong; Biazik, Joanna; Centurion, Franco; Han, Jialuo; Mofarah, Sajjad S.; Esrafilzadeh, Dorna; Koshy, Pramod; Sorrell, Charles C.; Chan, Sammy Lap Ip; Rahim, Md. Arifur; Kalantar-Zadeh, Kourosh
• Is Part Of: Applied materials today. Volume 27(2022)
• Publication Date: 2022-06
• Subjects: Low melting point -- Post-transition metals -- Zinc -- Biocompatibility -- Implants; Materials science -- Periodicals; Materials -- Research -- Periodicals; 620.1105
• DOI: 10.1016/j.apmt.2022.101459
• Languages: English
• ISSNs: 2352-9407

Abstract

Highlights: Induction heating was utilized, for the first time, for contactless melting of implant mimics, allowing their suction removal. The method eliminates the need for invasive surgeries. Eutectic alloys of field's metal and field's metal with Zn, both with the melting points of ∼60 °C, were employed as the viable candidates. The addition of Zn to field's metal improved the mechanical properties and lowered the melting point. Zinc stopped the oxidation and leaching of other elements in the cell culture medium. Abstract: Eutectic alloys have long been investigated for their unique properties such as single point melting temperature, homogenous structures, and uniform distribution of phases. In this work, we synthesized and characterized two low melting temperature liquid metal alloys. Eutectic alloys of indium-tin-bismuth (Field's metal) and Field's metal-like alloy with traces of zinc (0.4 wt%) were studied through a series of structural, thermal, microstructural, and mechanical tests. The in vitro biocompatibility of the alloys was assessed to investigate their potential application as bioimplants. These low melting point alloys (∼62 °C and ∼60 °C for Field's metal and the alloy with zinc, respectively) were utilized to address one of the major issues faced by the conventional use of bioimplants, which is the invasive surgery. We provide a proof-of-concept utilizing the combination of induction heating with the Field's metal-based alloys with suitable melting points. The approach enabled a contactless melting and extraction for the non-invasive removal of the bioimplant mimic from a polymer matrix, that can be potentially translated to the human body. We believe that this approach will provide fundamental insights for future biomedical applications and the design of liquid metal based non-invasive implants. Graphical abstract: Image, graphical abstract