Patent ID: 8871829

Claim:
A radiopaque marker for medical implants comprising: a) 10 to 90 weight-percent of a biodegradable base component consisting essentially of an alloy and capable of degrading in situ over a medically useful period of time; b) 10 to 90 weight-percent of a marker component comprising one or more radiopaque elements selected from the group consisting of I, Au, Ta, Y, Nb, Mo, Ru, Rh, Ba, La, Ce, Pr, Nd, Sm, Eu, Gd, Tb, Dy, Ho, Er, Tm, Yb, Lu, Hf, W, Re, Os, Ir, and Bi, wherein the radiopaque elements comprise at lest 90 weight-percent Ta, the marker component comprising fine particles; and, c) less than or equal to 10 weight-percent residual components, the components cited adding up to 100 weight-percent, wherein as the base component degrades the marker component particles are excreted without appreciable absorption into surrounding tissue.