Blending the line between biological and artificial
With the rapid progression of additive manufacturing, It is now possible to seamlessly implement complex structures within devises such as medical implants to alter the material properties in ways that were previously impossible. The advantages of this include better force distribution and osseointegration to the underlying bone.
In this academic project, the goal of my team was to study the effects of altering the material properties of the portion of the femoral implant that makes contact with the bone. By changing this material to a simulated scaffold structure at various densities we observed a stress distribution that better matched what a natural femur observes. Implementing a manufacturing strategy such as this could decrease the harmful effects of stress shielding.
Von-Mises stress in natural human femur during walking activity
Von-Mises stress in femur with standard titanium knee implant configured
Von-Mises stress in femur with titanium knee implant structured with a scaffold layer of 25% density
Differences of femur stress directly due to implant composition