Steel/metal implants affecting metal detector

Was curious if anyone with a steel / metal implant can detect it with their detector.
I have a screw in my wrist and my detector doesn't pick it up.
Will have to ask my doctor next time I'm in there....maybe they put a plastic one in there or something

I have 12 screws, wire and plates in my left ankle and no prob's with the detector, doesn't go off on it.

Gday

I dont know what the surgical screws and pins are made from but I would have thought that they would be stainless steel or some sort of titanium alloy, does stainless steel give a signal?, cant remember.

One time when detecting on a beach an old bloke came over to me and said that he had a steel knee cap, and asked me if the detector would pick it up, waved the coil over it and it gave a signal no worries, maybe the implants back when he got his were not as sophisticated as they are now?.

cheers

stayyerAU

Hi guy's

Did my ankle 5 yrs ago or so, have never had an airport detector pick up on it, however on a cold day if the screws get cold they will conduct the cold into the bones (not nice). so buggered if I know what they use, was glad to still have a foot attached at the time and didn't think to ask, though do remember mention of Titanium somewhere along the way.

Ian

Just did some research on this ....Seems metal detectors find it hard to pick up titanium because its a poor conductor or something
They even make titanium knives with claims that they wont set off metal detectors

Titanium has an extremely low conductivity reading, so a metal detector used for gold or coin finding (even the most advanced) are very unlikely to pick up a signal; much the same with some other metals such as molybdenum. Titanium is basically in its native form an alloy of a number of chemical elements. The International Mineralogical Association now has strong scientific evidence that titanium can no longer be considered a native element due to its alloy nature and their is now evidence that it may even not be a metal but a silicate instead.
In defence circles many believe incorrectly that titanium is used to strengthen a figther jet; titanium is quite heavy and breaks down under increasing heat; titanium is used in minimal amounts in a fighter jet for one reason only, its properties help the aircraft from being detected by radar.
Gold is of course a different kettle of fish and is being increasingly used in surgical implants, particularly in heart and heart related surgical implants. So if you have a titanium implant your detector will not pick it up, but if your implant has a gold content, then take your body to the nearest gold buyer and sell yourself.
geolit

Thanks Geolit
Very interesting

Titanium is often used in aircraft owing to it's strength and the fact that it is about 45% lighter than steel. To protect aircraft from radar Carbon Fibre and other composite materials are used.
Australia produces about 30% of the world's supply of Titanium
The AirBus 380 contains about 145 tonne of Titanium in it's structure.
Titanium is generally used by the Medical Industries in the manufacture of prosthetics used for hip/knee/shoulder/wrist etc joint replacements. It has been found that it's properties do not result in corrosion or rejection by the body. My recent knee joint replacement prosthesis cost about $9,000.00 + hospital and medical expenses. I now have both hips and knees with replacement joints (Titanium) so I guess I will have some scrap metal value one day !!!!!

For further reading have a look at ......Wikipedia - Titanium

Probably be to costly but a titanium pick would be handy

Have a pin in a bone in my left foot.

Never a problem detecting.
Only ever picked up at one airport. Birmingham 6 days after Sept 11 heading for New York. Nothing through came up in airport sensors through rest of USA so guess they can desensitise them a bit if the want to.

Have not heard it to be a common problem. Sometimes get a problem with car keys in right pocket as bend to sort soil over coil. Not a problem when I move keys to left pocket.

regards

Mal

hi all,
have a detecting mate who was shot in the back by his brother many years ago, lead peices still in his back near his backbone, zippy the detector over him and i get a good signal..gim,

gim wrote:hi all,
have a detecting mate who was shot in the back by his brother many years ago, lead peices still in his back near his backbone, zippy the detector over him and i get a good signal..gim,

gim, you better be really nice to your mate's brother. !!!

I wear a right leg combined ACL/PCL knee brace which is made of polycarbonite with alloy side arms/hinges. When strapped on, it fits from mid thigh to mid calf & it only rarely gets detected by a coil. The times it does sometimes get detected is when using a big coil, over 18 inch, or when I forget & bend to sort out the dirt on my right side.

I have had both hips replaced this year, one in May and one in September,and I was concerned that I may pick them up but I accidently wore my steelcap boots and I managed to avoid detecting them after the 20th time of placing them too close to the coil,
Cheers Leatherpot

Sounds like there's a lot of scrap metal walking around.
I wonder if they will be metal detecting our graves in years to come

as long as the coil doent pick up the plate in my head lol

Hi everyone,

I have two new total knee replacements which have metal/Titanium pieces in them. My detector only goes off if I am bending down sifting through the dirt and sometimes I forget and get my knees too close to the coil. Boy, does the detector go off its head. It screams at me. But while I am detecting, my knees do not interfer with the coil.

Kerri.

saltbush wrote:Sounds like there's a lot of scrap metal walking around.

Better than not being able to walk at all.

I have a metal knee implant in my left knee and every time i swing the detector to the left is gives a signal. only slightly but sometimes it does send my heart racing as i think that's it a nugget i'm going over! i use a gpx 4000 with a 17" UFO mono coil.

Hi All,
I have a different ? about using large mono coils on a 4500. As I will be getting a 4500 in the next couple of weeks & was going to also get a NF 18" mono. The? is will my new titanium hip be seen with the larger mono??? We always kept metal well away from the coils even 30 years ago on the whites 6DB's.
Cheers
Graham

Hi Twobob,
Well I use a 4500 with a 24+12 NF mono. and I had to move my pick to the middle of my sholder blades because it saw the pick on my hip...After the shift it was bliss..No more Waar woow... Its the flys mate...
Wouldnt be any where eles ok..Ive worked the fly bit out, there are 50thou. flies for each one of us. Now if you kill them all you become fly free.. But its the people that dont kill their 50thou. and go home early whats left come over to you....Smile no good crying...Bob

Hi twobob.

Not sure if it helps or not but I am riddled with plates, pins and screws and as far as I can tell there is no effect on my 4500.
I've been through dozens of airports all over the globe and not set off a detector yet.
Only once had a problem in a food processing factory with a detector for finding metal findings in chicken.
If I wave my arm or leg over my detector it picks it up but not in general use.

My mother had not a hip but instead a knee joint replacement the beginning of March. Will a the metal knee joint also effect a big mono coil I am wondering??

If it does, then these kind of people will have to use a small coil like a 9x14 mono(or 14" DD) instead. Maybe a mixed blessing then they can concentrate on small gold full time!!

using a 4500/ medium momo on weekend i was geting signals off my pick sitting on my hip took me a while to work it out as it wasnt on not on every time as i sweeped left . just a faint sound but made me think eg belt buckles etc goodluck buck

With the 3000 I found the 24 x 12 elliptical coil murmured every time I swung left as it picked up the pick on my hip. I relocated it to my left shoulder in a holster and that cured the problem. If you are swinging larger coils over 16" in diameter, remember that the upper shaft of your detector, if it is the original aluminium one, WILL detune your machine to a degree depending on coil size. I found this out with the 20" NF mono as I was getting beaten by a smaller coil very easily on the same targets. JP suggested the reason for it and was correct. A full fibregalss shaft fixed that and the 20" coil worked as it should have. It is, and has been for a long time, my preferred coil whenever possible to swing it. Cheers.