Success in the invention of ‘nickel’ free stainless-steel metal at IIT (BHU)
Varanasi: In a developing country like India, millions of people visit the hospital every day due to bone fractures and broken bones due to road accidents and other reasons. If you think that the metal used to attach and support the bone will not cause discomfort after the operation, then you are wrong.
Currently titanium, cobalt-chromium and nickel based surgical grade stainless steel metals such as (316L) are being used in organ transplants. In this, products made of titanium and cobalt-chromium are extremely expensive and many types of problems are also associated with it. Stainless steel (316L) is a nickel-based metal which is cheap but the ‘nickel’ element present in it causes problems like allergies, cancer, inflammation, discomfort, changes in the skin of the implant area in human skin.
Scientists in the Department of Metallurgical Engineering at Indian Institute of Technology (Banaras Hindu University) have succeeded in researching the metal of ‘nickel’ free surgical grade stainless steel. This metal is cheaper and much safer than stainless steel containing titanium, cobalt-chromium and ‘nickel’ metals used in organ transplantation in the human body.
Giving this information, Dr Girija Shankar Mahobia, Associate Professor of Metallurgical Engineering said that the common side effects of ‘Nickel’ element are fatigue, swelling and skin allergy. In some circumstances, there may also be a risk of developing lung, heart and kidney disease. Due to rusting of metal inside the body, ‘nickel’ also starts coming out along with various elements. Its dissolving capacity can be as high as 20 milligrams per kilogram, which is very dangerous. Keeping all these things in mind, it became necessary to invent such cheap and effective metal in which ‘nickel’ is negligible and it does not have any side effects in the body.
He further informed that the above works are another step of IIT (BHU) towards Aatm-Nirbhar Bharat. A patent has been filed for this in April 2020. It does not stick to magnets. The strength of the new metal is twice that of the metal currently in use, which will reduce the weight of the equipment made in it by half. Due to its adaptability to the body, it can also be used to make heart related devices like stents, pacemakers, valves etc. The new metal has absolutely no impurities, due to which its anti-fatigue properties are very good. According to the weight of the human on the metal implanted inside the human body, there is an additional load on different organs which is three to four times more. A normal and healthy human walks 7 to 10 kilometers per day and walks an average of one to two lakh steps every year. Accordingly, the extra load is applied to the implanted metal forever and the usefulness of the protection anti-fatigue property of the metal is greatly increased. The new metal being nickel-free will also cost Rs 100 per kg cheaper.
Dr GS Mahobia, Associate Professor, Metallurgical Engineering, IIT (BHU) said that in 2015, taking inspiration from Professor Vakil Singh, an expert in Mechanical-Metallurgy, he submitted a project to the Ministry of Steel to make a ‘nickel’ free metal. Due to being interdisciplinary and social welfare, it was given the green signal in January 2016. The Ministry of Steel provided a fund of Rs 284 lakh for three years and ‘Corrosion Fatigue Research Lab’ was set up in the Metallurgical Department. The project team involved experts from IIT(BHU), Institute of Medical Sciences, Banaras Hindu University, National Center for Cytology, Puna, Sree Chitra Tirunal Institute of Medical Sciences and Technology Trivandrum, Mishra Dhatu Nigam Limited-Hyderabad and Jindal Stainless Limited-Hisar. .
Principal Investigator Dr. GS Mahobia and Dr. OP Sinha designed the chemical composition of the new metal and got it produced at Mishr Dhatu Nigam Limited-Hyderabad. Nitrogen and manganese were added to the new metal by removing the nickel. Also other components such as chromium and molybdenum are mixed in a favorable ratio. Due to this, the mechanical properties and anti-corrosion properties of the metal are higher than those of the currently used stainless steel. Professor Vakil Singh contributed as an advisor to the entire project. Shri Chandrashekhar Kumar PhD research student has studied the ‘Corrosion Fatigue’ and Anti-Corrosion properties in detail according to all international parameters.
Dr. Sanjeev Mahto, School of Biomedical Engineering, IIT (BHU) investigated the metal-adhesion and survival of bone cells. Professor Mohan R. Wani, senior scientist, studied the metal-adherence and survival of stem cells and found that the nickel-free metal is body-friendly. The effect this metal can have on cells and blood inside the body has been tested in a Trivandrum-based lab to international standards on various animals such as rats, rabbits and pigs. In all the tests, the new metal was found to be compatible with the body. No side effects were found on any animals. Professor Amit Rastogi of the Institute of Medical Sciences, BHU, conducted detailed testing of the new metal on rabbits and found that the new metal is absolutely safe. Dr. N. Shanthi Srinivasan and Dr. Kaushik Chattopadhyay have been instrumental in understanding the mechanical behavior of this metal.
“For use of any new metal in the body, permission has to be taken from CDSCO, Government of India, similar to what we are currently seeing on the corona vaccine, its usefulness will have to be proved on human trials at different levels. An appeal will be made to the Ministry of Steel and Health to take necessary steps to make use of the new metal for the public. Various steel makers and implant device manufacturing industries have also shown their interest,” said IIT(BHU) director Prof. Pramod Kumar Jain.
