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Updated: Mar 6, 2026
Fabrication of Mechanically Tunable and Bioactive Metal Scaffolds for Biomedical Applications
Published on: December 8, 2015
Open-cellular metal implant design and fabrication for biomechanical compatibility with bone using electron beam
1Department of Metallurgical, Materials and Biomedical Engineering, The University of Texas at El Paso, El Paso, TX 79968 USA; W.M. Keck Center for 3D Innovation, The University of Texas at El Paso, El Paso, TX 79968 USA.
Abstract:
Implant history extends more than 4000 years in antiquity, with biocompatible alloy implants extending over only 70 years. Over the past several decades, total hip and knee replacements of Ti-6Al-4V and Co-Cr-Mo alloys have exhibited post implantation life spans extending over 15 years; limited by infection, loosening, stress-shielding-related bone resorption and other mechanical failures. With the advent of additive manufacturing technologies, such as electron beam melting (EBM) over the past decade, personalized, patient-specific; porous (open-cellular) implant components can be manufactured, and the integration of chemical, biological and mechanical methods is able to optimize strategies for improving long-term clinical outcomes. This review outlines these strategies, which include enhanced osseointegration and vascularization prospects, and provides some evidence for, and examples of, clinical trials representative of millions of implant surgeries world-wide.
