SPbPU scientists proposed using different titanium alloys for 3D printing of bone implants

SPbPU scientists proposed using different titanium alloys for 3D printing of bone implants that are not rejected by the patient’s body.

MOSCOW, September 30 – RIA Novosti. SPbPU scientists proposed using different titanium alloys for 3D printing of bone implants that the patient’s body does not reject. Experts were able to give the layers of the implanted device the necessary properties, as in the structure of real bone. The results are presented in the journal Metals.

Some areas of the implant require increased resistance to bending, the surface requires the ability to quickly fuse with bone tissue, and in areas of contact between the artificial material and biological tissue, an antibacterial effect is desired. If these medical devices are produced from one material, then it will not satisfy all these requirements and be “super-resistant” to any impact, they said at Peter the Great St. Petersburg Polytechnic University (SPbPU).

“An implant can be imagined not as a part made of one metal, but as a structure, different sections of which are made of the most suitable material for them. Moreover, there should not be a weak “seam” between different materials, otherwise such a constructor will “fall apart,” said one of the authors of the work, leading researcher, associate professor at the Institute of Mechanical Engineering, Materials and Transport of St. Petersburg Polytechnic University Igor Polozov.

University scientists have proven that this approach to creating structures implanted into the body is possible using titanium alloys of different compositions. For the manufacture of different parts of the implant, experts proposed using biocompatible titanium alloys with tantalum (Ti15Ta), a titanium alloy with tantalum, niobium and zirconium (Ti10Ta2Nb2Zr), as well as a titanium alloy with niobium, zirconium and copper (Ti13Nb13Zr5Cu), which counteracts the growth of bacteria due to copper atoms in the composition.

“We have established that during 3D printing using selective laser melting, transition zones several hundred micrometers thick are formed between these materials, which are not inferior to the original alloys in strength. We assessed the reaction of living cells to individual alloys in the laboratory on cultures of bone and gum cells,” explained Polozov, emphasizing that additional regulation of the porosity of each layer will help to bring the implant even closer in structure and properties to real bone.

Before implementation into clinical practice, it is necessary to further study the fatigue characteristics, corrosion behavior and biological response of the transition zones between the alloys themselves, SPbPU added.