ATI 6-7™ Alloy (UNS R56700) was conceived and developed in 1977 by a team of researchers at Gebruder Sulzer in Winterthur, Switzerland. The objective was to create a titanium alloy for medical and surgical device applications with properties nearly identical to ATI Ti-6Al-4V, substituting Niobium for Vanadium as the beta stabilizing element. After six years of testing and evaluation, the alloy was introduced by Sulzer-Protek as Protasul® 100 in 1985, and has been used clinically since 1986. ATI 6-7™ Alloy is widely used in the medical device industry, primarily for orthopaedic applications such as: total hip replacement systems, fracture fixation plates, intermedullary rods and nails, spinal devices, screws, and wires.