The long-term biological success of cementless orthopaedic prostheses is highly dependent on osteointegration. Pre-clinical testing of new cementless implant technology however, requires live animal testing, which has anatomical, loading, ethical and cost challenges. This proof-of-concept study aimed to develop an Fresh cancellous bone cylinders (n=8) were harvested from porcine femur and implanted with additive manufactured porous titanium implants (Ø4 × 15 mm). To simulate physiological conditions, n=3 bone cylinders were tested in a bioreactor system with a cyclic 30 µm displacement at 1Hz for 300 cycles every day for 15 days in a total of 21 days culture. The chamber was also perfused with culture medium using a peristaltic pump. Control bone cylinders were cultured under static conditions (n=5). Samples were calcein stained at day 7. Post-testing, bone cylinders were formalin fixed and bony ingrowth was measured via microscopy.Abstract
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Additive manufacturing (AM) enables fine control over the architecture of porous lattice structures, and the resulting mechanical performance. Orthopaedic implants may benefit from the tailored stiffness/elastic modulus of these AM biomaterials, as the stiffness can be made to closer match the properties of the replaced trabecular bone. This study used laser powder bed fusion (PBF) to create stochastic porous lattice structures in stainless steel (SS316L) and titanium alloy (Ti6Al4V), with modifications that aimed to overcome PBF manufacturing limitations of build angles. The structures were tested in uni-axial compression (n = 5) in 10 load orientations relative to the structure, including the three orthogonal axes.Abstract
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