Titanium as an ossicular replacement material - Results after 336 days of implantation in the rabbit

Objective: Titanium in other parts of the body, well known for its biocompa tibility, was examined in an animal model for its use as an ossicular repla cement material. Study Design: The biocompatibility of titanium was studied in the middle ea r of rabbits using light and scanning electron microscopy. Titanium pins we re placed as middle ear prostheses or as free implants and were examined af ter 28, 84, 168, and 336 days. Results: After 28 days, the prostheses were covered by regular mucosa. The free implants took up to 336 days to be totally epithelialized. There were no inflammatory cells observed on the surface of the material nor were unus ual amounts of fibrous tissue seen. In addition, the titanium material exhi bited an affinity toward bone. Conclusions: The results of this animal experiment indicate that titanium i s a useful material for ossicular replacement prostheses.