Biodegradation and biocompatibility of mechanically active magnetoelastic materials

Magnetoelastic (ME) materials have many advantages for use as sensors and actuators due to their wireless, passive nature. This paper describes the application of ME materials as biodegradable implants with controllable degradation rates. Experiments have been conducted to show that degradation rates of ME materials are dependent on the material compositions. In addition, it was shown that the degradation rates of the ME materials can be controlled remotely by applying a magnetic field, which causes the ME materials to generate low-magnitude vibrations that hasten their degradation rates. Another concern of ME materials for medical applications is biocompatibility. Indirect cytotoxicity analyses were performed on two types of ME materials: Metglas™ 2826 MB (FeNiMoB) and iron–gallium alloy. While results indicate Metglas is not biocompatible, the degradation products of iron–gallium materials have shown no adverse effects on cell viability. Overall, these results present the possibility of using ME materials as biodegradable, magnetically-controlled active implants.