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Metals in medicine are used in organic systems for diagnostic and treatment purposes. [1] Inorganic elements are also essential for organic life as cofactors in enzymes called metalloproteins . When metals are under or over-abundant in the body, equilibrium must be returned to its natural state via interventional and natural methods.
Titanium is considered the most biocompatible metal due to its resistance to corrosion from bodily fluids, bio-inertness, capacity for osseointegration, and high fatigue limit. Titanium's ability to withstand the harsh bodily environment is a result of the protective oxide film that forms naturally in the presence of oxygen.
The medical uses of silver include its use in wound dressings, creams, and as an antibiotic coating on medical devices. [ 2 ] [ 3 ] [ 4 ] Wound dressings containing silver sulfadiazine or silver nanomaterials may be used to treat external infections.
The oligodynamic effect was discovered in 1893 as a toxic effect of metal ions on living cells, algae, molds, spores, fungi, viruses, prokaryotic, and eukaryotic microorganisms, even in relatively low concentrations. [7] This antimicrobial effect is shown by ions of copper as well as mercury, silver, iron, lead, zinc, bismuth, gold, and aluminium.
Additionally, small pieces of aluminium oxide are often used as boiling chips. Health and medical applications include it as a material in hip replacements [7] and birth control pills. [48] It is used as a scintillator [49] and dosimeter for radiation protection and therapy applications for its optically stimulated luminescence properties ...
Metal ions and metallic compounds are often used in medical treatments and diagnoses. [18] Compounds containing metal ions can be used as medicine, such as lithium compounds and auranofin. [19] [20] Metal compounds and ions can also produce harmful effects on the body due to the toxicity of several types of metals. [18]
Iron oxide nanoparticles may also be used in magnetic hyperthermia as a cancer treatment method. In this method, the ferrofluid which contains iron oxide is injected to the tumor and then heated up by an alternating high frequency magnetic field. The temperature distribution produced by this heat generation may help to destroy cancerous cells ...
A metallopharmaceutical is a drug that contains a metal as an active ingredient. [1] [2] Most commonly metallopharmaceuticals are used as anticancer or antimicrobial agents. The efficiency of metallopharmaceuticals is crucially dependent on the respective trace metal binding forms. [3] Examples of metallopharmaceuticals include: