Development of biodegradable implants has grown into one of the important areas in medical science. Degradability becomes more important for orthopaedic accessories used to support fractured and damaged bones, in order to avoid second surgery for their removal after healing. Clinically available biodegradable orthopaedic materials are mainly made of polymers or ceramics. These orthopaedic accessories have an unsatisfactory mechanical strength, when used in load-bearing parts. Magnesium and its alloys can be suitable candidate for this purpose, due to their outstanding strength to weight ratio, biodegradability, non-toxicity and mechanical properties, similar to natural bone. The major drawback of magnesium is its low corrosion resistance, which also influences its mechanical and physical characteristics in service condition. An effort has been taken in this research to improve the corrosion resistance, bioactivity and mechanical strength of biodegradable magnesium alloys by synthesizing Mg-3 wt% Zn matrix composite, reinforced with thermally treated hydroxyapatite(HA) [Ca₁₀(PO₄)₆(OH)₂], a bioactive and osteogenic ceramic. Addition of 5 wt% HA is found effective in reducing the corrosion rate by 42% and improvement in the compressive yield strength of biodegradable magnesium alloy by 23%. In-vitro evaluation, up to 56 days, reveal improved resistance to degradation with HA reinforcement to Mg. Osteoblast cells show better growth and proliferation on HA reinforced surfaces of the composite. Mg-HA composite structure shows impressive potential to be used in orthopaedic fracture fixing accessories.

可生物降解植入物的开发已成为医学领域的重要领域之一。对于用于支撑骨折和受损骨骼的整形外科配件而言，可降解性变得更为重要，以避免在修复后再进行第二次手术以去除它们。临床上可生物降解的骨科材料主要由聚合物或陶瓷制成。当用于承重零件时，这些整形外科配件的机械强度不能令人满意。镁及其合金由于其与天然骨相似的出色的强度重量比，可生物降解性，无毒性和机械性能，因此可能是适合此目的的候选材料。镁的主要缺点是其低耐腐蚀性，这还会影响其在使用条件下的机械和物理特性。₁₀（PO ₄）₆（OH）₂ ]，一种具有生物活性和成骨性的陶瓷。发现添加5wt％的HA有效地将腐蚀速率降低了42％，并将可生物降解的镁合金的压缩屈服强度提高了23％。长达56天的体外评估显示，HA增强了镁对降解的抵抗力。成骨细胞在复合材料的HA增强表面上显示出更好的生长和增殖。Mg-HA复合结构在骨科骨折固定配件中显示出令人印象深刻的潜力。