Reading Alloys’ Muktesh Paliwal gives talk on titanium powders for medical applications
April 17, 2019
Muktesh Paliwal, Senior R&D Metallurgist at Reading Alloys at the APMI West Penn presentation (Courtesy Ametek Specialty Metal Products)
Muktesh Paliwal, a Senior R&D Metallurgist at Reading Alloys, a division of Ametek Specialty Metal Products, Pennsylvania, USA, gave a keynote presentation on the topic of titanium powders for medical applications at a Technical Session of the West Pennsylvania Chapter of the American Powder Metallurgy Institute (APMI International), which took place in St. Mary’s, Pennsylvania, USA.
Paliwal presented an overview of Reading Alloys’ expertise in the field, including the processes involved in the production of titanium powders and alloys. He also explained the advantages that titanium powders and alloys offer the medical industry for specialist surgical, dental and cardiovascular applications.
In his talk, Paliwal cited Reading Alloys’ titanium powders for orthopaedic implants as an example of innovation in the medical industry. He went on to explain how spray coating can provide excellent surface conditions for hip joints, as it enables the bone to grow into the implant through a process known as osseointegration, which anchors the implant to provide longevity.
According to Reading Alloys, titanium is ideal for medical applications due to its high corrosion resistance. Other advantages include its low density and high specific strength, as well as its compatibility with MRI and CT technology. The company’s titanium powders include CP Ti, magnesium and sodium-reduced Ti sponge, Ti Hydride and Ti-6Al-4V.
Paliwal also described how Reading Alloys produces master alloys using thermite processes to create more than sixty standard alloy formulations, tailored according to customer specifications. These master alloys can be mixed with titanium sponge and melted to make various titanium alloys by customers.
“People are living to an older age now and have an increased desire to stay active for longer and maintain a good quality of life. As a consequence, demand has increased for critical medical applications, such as heart valves, hearing aids, hip implants, stents and other implantable devices. We are proud to see our specialist metal powder, tube and strip products – particularly our medical plasma spray coatings – becoming increasingly key in the evolution of devices like these,” stated Paliwal.
