William Heineman¹, Daoli Zhao¹; ¹University of Cincinnati

Bioresorbable magnesium offers advantages over permanent stainless steel for implants such as plates and screws that are used for repairing damaged bone. Magnesium bioresorbs by reacting with water to form hydrogen gas, magnesium ion, and hydroxide ion. Hydrogen has proven to be especially useful for monitoring magnesium biodegradation during in vivo evaluation of Mg alloys and devices implanted in test animals because the hydrogen gas generated during bioresorption rapidly permeates through biological tissue. Both electrochemical and visual sensors that are sufficiently sensitive to measure the very low levels of hydrogen involved have been developed for this application. Monitoring hydrogen is easily done by placing the sensor on the skin above the implant where it responds to the hydrogen gas permeating through the skin. This simple, non-invasive procedure is potentially useful for point-of-care applications such as doctor’s office surgery follow-ups to check the corrosion status of implants in patients.