While no implant is easy or simple, some medical implants, especially concerning bone replacement, pose complex problems. Researchers at Washington State University have implemented new procedures utilizing Laser Engineered Net Shaping or LENS. The process facilitates actual bone growth for a healthier implant and a feasible solution when the implant required does not have a carbon copy available in stock.
The process LENS uses is truly remarkable and could pave the way for broader acceptance and use of a similar process for various implants. Currently, some surgeries place metal implants in the body to replace or supplement degrading or damaged bone structures. The old implant model has a stock catalogue from which to choose thereby limiting options for many procedures, and customized options take an excruciatingly long time to develop. With the advent of 3D print technology, bone implant surgeries can shed previous limitations.
The properties and manufacture by LENS bypasses some complications arising in traditional implants. Most weight bearing implants use titanium and steel which are strong enough, yet they do not bond with bone. The failure to bond can have a weakening effect on surrounding bones: they require exercise to strengthen and prevent degrading. Manufactured with microscopic holes, the LENS product can bind with bone, stimulating organic growth. The porous structures prove difficult under traditional manufacturing.
As explained by Discovery: “In the LENS® process, tiny particles are blown into the path of a laser and melted. The material cools and hardens as soon as it is out of the laser beam, and custom parts can be quickly built up layer by layer. The process is so precise that parts can be used straight off the printer without the polishing or finishing needed in traditional manufacturing.”
The whole process can start with typical medical scans like an MRI or CT followed by physician consultation. After scanning, LENS takes over and produces porous metals and ceramics that will not mix due to the quick heating and cooling process. The result is a fully customized, fascinating implant.
Funded by the National Science Foundation, a wife and husband team has led the research on LENS at Washington State. Susmita Bose and Amit Bandyopadhyay lead the team and tout the advatages of 3D printing from the scanning process to manufacturing. “Once we built confidence that the properties of LENS-manufactured implants were the same as standard implants, we then focused on materials that were difficult to manufacture, like tantalum. We can make a tantalum implant or coating in less than 15 minutes, even though its melting temperature is over 3000 degrees Celsius,” Bandyopadhyay says.
LENS is remarkable simply by its process, yet the implications of its proliferation in the medical field ought to reimagine the world of healthcare. Such malleable custumization of implants brings medical care closer to the individualization for which every patient hopes.
Source: NSF
