A analysis workforce from the College of Texas at Dallas (UTD) has developed a 3D-printed femur mannequin, doubtlessly paving the best way for cost-effective and customizable options in orthopedic surgical procedure preparation, biomechanical research, and bone restore. Created by way of a collaboration with UT Southwestern Medical Middle’s orthopedic surgeons, this 3D-printed femur represents a brand new method to enhancing surgical procedure planning and coaching with a patient-specific focus.
Challenges in Conventional Bone Surgical procedure Preparation
In conventional apply, orthopedic surgeons depend on cadaver bones or artificial bone fashions to review surgical strategies and consider the effectiveness of implants. Nonetheless, cadaver bones are costly and tough to supply, and commercially accessible artificial bones could lack the anatomical precision wanted for personalized therapy. Moreover, they’ll take time to amass and will not replicate the distinctive geometry required for patient-specific procedures.
The 3D-Printed Answer
Led by Dr. Wei Li, assistant professor of mechanical engineering at UTD, the analysis workforce designed a 3D-printed femur prototype constructed from polylactic acid (PLA), a biodegradable polymer broadly utilized in 3D printing. This materials permits for cost-effective manufacturing, with every femur mannequin costing round $7 to print. At almost eight inches in size and one inch in diameter, the printed bone represents the midsection of a human femur and demonstrates mechanical properties carefully aligned with pure human bone in lab testing.
The 3D printing course of allows engineers to duplicate the exact geometry of a affected person’s femur, doubtlessly permitting docs to customise fashions to suit particular person sufferers. This functionality could possibly be important in bone tumor therapy, the place replicating affected bone sections may support in testing focused therapies.
Functions and Future Instructions
Past offering a cheap various for biomechanical research and surgical coaching, the 3D-printed femur has broader implications. Dr. Li means that the polymer mannequin may at some point exchange supplies like titanium at the moment utilized in bone restore. In one other promising utility, researchers plan to include 3D-printed tumors into these fashions, permitting for preoperative testing and therapy improvement instantly on simulated bone buildings.
This undertaking has introduced collectively consultants from totally different disciplines, together with orthopedic oncology surgeon Dr. Robert Weinschenk and hand and higher extremity surgeon Dr. Richard Samade from UT Southwestern. Each surgeons convey engineering experience to the undertaking, enhancing the collaborative method in exploring novel orthopedic options.
The promising outcomes from this research, revealed within the Journal of Orthopaedic Analysis, spotlight the potential for 3D-printed bones to advance orthopedic care. Additional analysis will refine the fashions and discover extra scientific purposes, together with potential use in bone tissue regeneration.
Because the analysis progresses, the UTD and UT Southwestern groups are optimistic about how 3D printing can rework orthopedic surgical procedure and allow extra personalised and exact therapies.
Supply: information.utdallas.edu