Mechanical properties of additively manufactured lattice structures composed of zirconia and hydroxyapatite ceramics.

Ceramic lattices hold great potential for bone scaffolds to facilitate bone regeneration and integration of native tissue with medical implants. While there have been several studies on additive manufacturing of ceramics and their osseointegrative and osteoconductive properties, there is a lack of a comprehensive examination of their mechanical behavior. Therefore, the aim of this study was to assess the mechanical properties of different additively manufactured ceramic lattice structures under different loading conditions and their overall ability to mimic bone tissue properties. Eleven different lattice structures were designed and manufactured with a porosity of 80% using two materials, hydroxyapatite (HAp) and zirconium dioxide (ZrO2). Six cell-based lattices with cubic and hexagonal base, as well as five Voronoi-based lattices were considered in this study. The samples were manufactured using lithography-based ceramic additive manufacturing and post-processed thermally prior to mechanical testing. Cell-based lattices with cubic and hexagonal base, as well as Voronoi-based lattices were considered in this study. The lattices were tested under four loading conditions: compression, four-point bending, shear and tension. The manufacturing process of the different ceramics leads to different deviations of the lattice geometry, hence, the elastic properties of one structure cannot be directly inferred from one material to another. ZrO2 lattices prove to be stiffer than HAp lattices of the same designed structure. The Young's modulus for compression of ZrO2 lattices ranges from 2 to 30GPa depending on the used lattice design and for HAp 200MPa to 3.8GPa. The expected stability, the load where 63.2% of the samples are expected to be destroyed, of the lattices ranges from 81 to 553MPa and for HAp 6 to 42MPa. For the first time, a comprehensive overview of the mechanical properties of various additively manufactured ceramic lattice structures is provided. This is intended to serve as a reference for designers who would like to expand the design capabilities of ceramic implants that will lead to an advancement in their performance and ability to mimic human bone tissue.

Design and optimization of a novel patient-specific subperiosteal implant additively manufactured in yttria-stabilized zirconia.

OBJECTIVE: To design a patient-specific subperiosteal implant for a severely atrophic maxillary ridge using yttria-stabilized additively manufactured zirconia (3YSZ) and evaluate its material properties by applying topology optimization (TO) to replace bulk material with a lattice structure. MATERIALS: A contrast-based segmented skull model from anonymized computed tomography data of a patient was used for the initial anatomical design of the implant for the atrophic maxillary ridge. The implant underwent finite element analysis (FEA) and TO under different occlusal load-bearing conditions. The resulting implant designs, in bulk material and lattice, were evaluated via in-silico tensile tests and 3D printed. RESULTS: The workflow produced two patient-specific subperiosteal designs: a) an anatomically precise bulk implant, b) a TO lattice implant. In-silico tensile tests revealed that the Young's modulus of yttria-stabilized zirconia is 205 GPa for the bulk material and 83.3 GPa for the lattice. Maximum principal stresses in the implant were 61.14 MPa in bulk material and 278.63 MPa in lattice, both tolerable, indicating the redesigned implant can withstand occlusal forces of 125-250 N per abutment. Furthermore, TO achieved a 13.10 % mass reduction and 208.71 % increased surface area, suggesting improved osteointegration potential. SIGNIFICANCE: The study demonstrates the planning and optimization of ceramic implant topology. A further iteration of the implant was successfully implanted in a patient-named use case, employing the same fabrication process and parameters.

Measured and simulated mechanical properties of additively manufactured matrix-inclusion multimaterials fabricated by material jetting.

Modern additive manufacturing enables the simultaneous processing of different materials during the printing process. While multimaterial 3D printing allows greater freedom in part design, the prediction of the mix-material properties becomes challenging. One type of multimaterials are matrix-inclusion composites, where one material contains inclusions of another material. Aim of this study was to develop a method to predict the uniaxial Young's modulus and Poisson's ratio of material jetted matrix-inclusion composites by a combination of simulations and experimental data.Fifty samples from commercially available materials in their pure and matrix-inclusion mixed forms, with cubic inclusions, have been fabricated using material jetting and mechanically characterized by uniaxial tensile tests. Multiple simulation approaches have been assessed and compared to the measurement results in order to find and validate a method to predict the multimaterials' properties. Optical coherence tomography and microscopy was used to characterize the size and structure of the multimaterials, compared to the design.The materials exhibited Young's moduli in the range of 1.4 GPa to 2.5 GPa. The multimaterial mixtures were never as stiff as the weighted volume average of the primary materials (up to [Formula: see text] softer for 45% RGD8530-DM inclusions in VeroClear matrix). Experimental data could be predicted by finite element simulations by considering a non-ideal contact stiffness between matrix and inclusion ([Formula: see text] for RGD8530-DM, [Formula: see text] for RGD8430-DM), and geometries of the printed inclusions that deviated from the design (rounded edge radii of [Formula: see text]m). Not considering this would lead to a difference of the estimation result of up to [Formula: see text]MPa (44%), simulating an inclusion volume fraction of 45% RGD8530-DM.Prediction of matrix-inclusion composites fabricated by multimaterial jetting printing, is possible, however, requires a priori knowledge or additional measurements to characterize non-ideal contact stiffness between the components and effective printed geometries, precluding therefore a simple multimaterial modelling.

Optimizing efficiency in the creation of patient-specific plates through field-driven generative design in maxillofacial surgery.

Field driven design is a novel approach that allows to define through equations geometrical entities known as implicit bodies. This technology does not rely upon conventional geometry subunits, such as polygons or edges, rather it represents spatial shapes through mathematical functions within a geometrical field. The advantages in terms of computational speed and automation are conspicuous, and well acknowledged in engineering, especially for lattice structures. Moreover, field-driven design amplifies the possibilities for generative design, facilitating the creation of shapes generated by the software on the basis of user-defined constraints. Given such potential, this paper suggests the possibility to use the software nTopology, which is currently the only software for field-driven generative design, in the context of patient-specific implant creation for maxillofacial surgery. Clinical scenarios of applicability, including trauma and orthognathic surgery, are discussed, as well as the integration of this new technology with current workflows of virtual surgical planning. This paper represents the first application of field-driven design in maxillofacial surgery and, although its results are very preliminary as it is limited in considering only the distance field elaborated from specific points of reconstructed anatomy, it introduces the importance of this new technology for the future of personalized implant design in surgery.