Performance of Surgical Blades from Biocompatible Bulk Metallic Glasses and Metallic Glass Thin Films for Sustainable Medical Devices Improvement

Abstract

The increasing needs for technological applications in medical field currently demand the development of equipment in it, one of which is the quality aspect of the medical equipment used. Martensitic stainless steel and carbon steel are among the widely applied materials as commercial surgical devices because of their sufficient hardness and biocompatibility that meet the practical requirements. However, due to the large grain size of more than 10 microns in their crystalline structure, the grain boundary regions will produce an irregular and wavy cutting edge in microscopic scale. When the knife is applied to cut soft tissue, it creates a fragmented surface through tearing and snatching, which makes the wound more difficult to heal. Moreover, due to their limited ability to maintain the edge shape after multiple cutting indicated by their rapid sharpness degradation, the commercial blades’ durability is considered low and easily transformed into a medical waste afterward. Based on these conditions, a sustainable improvement in material technology is crucial to be implemented in this respective field. Biocompatible bulk metallic glasses (BMGs) and metallic glass thin films (MGTFs) are amorphous-structured metal materials having the potential to be applied as medical equipment because, in general, they have relatively higher biocompatibility, mechanical, and corrosion properties than their crystalline counterparts. Even though it is challenging to fabricate such material into specific forms, the absence of grain boundary in their structure makes the ability of BMGs and MGTFs to allocate the significant surgical blade sharpness and meets the current medical needs. This chapter provides the general overview of the medical device in terms of surgical blade made from BMG and MGTF materials. The set of BMG alloy systems for biomedical applications, material properties, blade fabrication techniques, their performances, and future challenges are also demonstrated.