Zimmer® Trabecular Metal™ Technology

Overview

The Best Thing Next to Bone™

When you need a hip, knee, shoulder or spine implant, you want assurance that your implant is made from the highest quality material, and that it’s as close to the real thing as possible. Implants today are made of many materials, but there is only one metal that acts most closely like healthy bone:1,2  Zimmer Trabecular Metal Technology. Trabecular Metal implants are, quite simply, The Best Thing Next to Bone.

Zimmer Trabecular Metal Technology

What is Trabecular Metal Material?

There are 206 bones in the adult human body. Although they give the appearance of being rock solid, bones are actually complex living tissue, composed of five primary parts:

 

  • Compact Bone is the hard, strong, solid outer layer, which gives bones their whitish colour.

  • Periosteum – Located on the top, surface layer of the compact bone, the periosteum is a thin membrane containing the nerves and blood vessels that provide nourishment and sensation to bone tissue.
     
  • Cancellous (Spongy) Bone – Located inside the hard outer layer, cancellous bone looks like a sponge and contains bone marrow. It is made up of a mesh-like network of tiny pieces of bone called trabeculae.
     
  • Bone Marrow – Found in many bones, bone marrow is located inside the cancellous bone and makes most of your red and white blood cells and platelets.

  • Subchondral Bone is the smooth tissue at the ends of bones, which is covered with cartilage.

Named after the trabeculae found in the inside layer of your bones, Zimmer Trabecular Metal material resembles natural bone in appearance and dynamics: it is extremely strong yet flexible, and very porous, resembling a sponge. Years of scientific research and clinical results show that Trabecular Metal Technology is truly The Best Thing Next to Bone.

Related Articles

References

  1. JD Bobyn, SA Hacking, JJ Krygier, SP Chan, KK Toh, M Tanzer, “Characterization of a New Porous Tantalum Biomaterial for Reconstructive Surgery”, 66th Annual AAOS, Anaheim, CA, Feb 4-8, 1999. Scientific exhibit.

  2. DA Shimko, VF Shimko, EA Sander, KF Dickson, EA Nauman, “Effect of Porosity on the Fluid Flow Characteristics and Mechanical Properties of Tantalum Scaffolds”, published on-line February 2005 in Wiley Interscience (www.interscience.wiley.com)