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As used herein, "implant" refers to a medical device manufactured to replace a missing biological structure, support a damaged biological structure, or enhance an existing biological structure. Often medical implants are man-made devices, but implants can also be natural occurring structures. The surface of implants that contact the body may be made of, or include a biomedical material such as titanium, cobalt chrome, stainless steel, carbon fiber, another metallic alloy, silicone, polymer, Synthetic polyvinyl alcohol (PVA) hydrogels, biomaterials, biocompatible polymers such as PolyEther Ether Ketone (PEEK) or a polylactide polymer (e.g. PLLA) and/or others, or apatite, or any combination of these depending on what is functional and/or economical. Implants can have a variety of configurations and can be wholly, partially, and/or include a number of components that are flexible, semiflexible, pliable, elastic, supple, semi-rigid, or rigid. In some cases implants contain electronics, e.g. artificial pacemaker and cochlear implants. Some implants are bioactive, such as subcutaneous drug delivery devices in the form of implantable pills or drug-eluting stents. Orthopedic implants may be used to alleviate issues with bones and/or joints of a patient's body. Orthopedic implants can be used to treat bone fractures, osteoarthritis, scoliosis, spinal stenosis, discomfort, and pain. Examples of orthopedic implants include, but are not limited to, a wide variety of pins, rods, screws, anchors, spacers, sutures, all-suture implants, ball all-suture implants, self-locking suture implants, cross-threaded suture implants, plates used to anchor fractured bones while the bones heal or fuse together, and the like. (Search "implant (medicine)" on Wikipedia.com May 26, 2021. CC-BY-SA 3.0 Modified. Accessed June 30, 2021.)

Added by DJM Jan 2024