Revolutionizing Metallic Biomaterials

Entering 21st century, the metallic biomaterials are revolutionizing. New kinds of metallic biomaterials represented by biodegradable metals, nacocrystalline metals and alloys, and bulk metallic glasses, had been explored as implantable biomaterials, and correspondingly the nature of metallic biomaterials are shifting from the bio-inert (with stainless steel, Co-based alloys and Ti alloys) to bio-active and multi-biofunctional (anti-bacterial, anti-proliferation, anti-cancer, etc.). The newly-emerging 3D printing technology and thin film technology had been applied to the advancing manufacture and intelligence of the medical devices made of metallic biomaterials. In this paper, the current research status of the revolutionizing metallic biomaterials had been reviewed, and the future research and development tendencies for newly-developed metallic biomaterials towards bio-functionalization, composite and intelligence are also proposed.