Recent years have witnessed much progress in medical device manufacturing and the needs of the medical industry urges modern nanomaterials science to develop novel approaches for improving the properties of existing biomaterials. One of the ways to enhance the material properties is their nanostructuring by using severe plastic deformation (SPD) techniques. For medical devices, such properties include increased strength and fatigue life, and this determines nanostructured Ti and Ti alloys to be an excellent choice for the engineering of implants with improved design for orthopedics and dentistry. Various reported studies conducted in this field enable the fabrication of medical devices with enhanced functionality. This paper reviews recent development in the field of nanostructured Ti-based materials and provides examples of the use of ultra-fine grained Ti alloys in medicine.
Keywords: enhanced strength and fatigue life; functionality; medical implants with improved design; nanostructured Ti alloys; severe plastic deformation; shape-memory NiTi alloy.