Current status and prospects of research on medical magnesium alloys and devices

<p indent="0mm">Magnesium and magnesium alloys, with excellent mechanical and biological properties, are currently the most intensively-studied and widely-used biodegradable metal materials. In recent years, researchers have prepared different types of medical magnesium alloys and carried out extensive research on their mechanical properties, degradation behavior, biocompatibility, and biological mechanisms. Over the past decade, researchers have carried out numerous animal and clinical trials on medical magnesium alloy devices and obtained remarkable results. Magnesium alloy bone screws, vascular stents, guided bone regeneration membranes, and biliary stents have successively obtained CE certification. Animal experiments have also been conducted on magnesium alloy lumen stents, staplers, nerve conduits, etc. Initiating from the design and surface modification, we made a comprehensive overview of the current research status of medical magnesium alloys and devices, elucidated the biological mechanism, and anticipated the future development direction in this review.