Titanium Trace Metal Analysis of Tissue Overlaying Cervical Spine Plates in Dogs

The goal of this study was to determine concentration distributions of titanium released from Ti-bA1-4V cervical spine plates i n canines and to relate this to observable implant surface damage. This research is part of an ongoing project to determine if there is a correlation between titanium release and plate strain and screw-plate interface motion in a canine cervical spine model. Two posterior cervical spine plates were implanted in four canines at the C4-C5 level. The overlaying tissue covering each implant was examined for trace levels of titanium using Inductively Coupled Plasma (ICP) Atomic Emission Spectroscopy. The highest titanium levels (>lo0 ppm dry wt.) were found in 1:issue samples closest to the screw- plate interfaces. Most of the surface damage observed was also found at these locations. Titanium was also found to have diffused into the tissue surrounding these locations.