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Medical

Every patient deserves unique solutions.
Bioinert or bioresorbable implants offer superior biocompatibility and achieve a perfect custom fit. Thanks to these unique properties, ceramics printed using LCM technology have countless possibilities as applications in the medical field.

Our Recommendation

CeraFab S65 Medical

LithaCon

Zirconia

LithaBone

Hydroxyapatite / TCP

LithaCon

Alumina

LithaBone

Alumina
When it comes to health, there can be no compromise. Whether it's implants, medical equipment or surgical instruments: in medicine, only the highest possible precision can be accepted. And that's exactly why we created the CeraFab S65 Medical.

We at KLS Martin have been producing jaw implants (CMF implants) for human use on our Lithoz CeraFab printer since 2015, achieving the best possible results in terms of accuracy of fit, tolerability and healing success.

Frank Reinauer, Senior Director Division Implants, KLS Martin Group

Applications

Palatal obturator

Cleft palates are among the most frequent congenital diseases in the western world. Roughly, 1 in 1000 children suffer from an underdeveloped palate at birth, resulting in a pathological opening in the hard and soft palate and sometimes causing compromised lip structures. This disease can range from an incomplete defect in the soft palate to a bilateral complete lip and cleft palate. Patients suffer from frequent infections due to germs that can enter the adjacent tissues from the mouth, as well as experiencing speech and respiratory difficulties and psychosocial issues.

Current treatment options involve a temporary palatal obturator for the cleft palate and surgery for the cleft lip. However, these options are often inadequate as they do not permanently solve the underlying issue.

Researchers and companies have developed a new treatment option based on resorbable ceramic materials to replace the missing bone in the palatal area and combine it with soft materials to help the closure of the oral mucosa. Patient-specific designs and interconnected open porous geometries, in combination with established materials like hydroxy apatite and tricalcium phosphate, can guarantee a complete healing of the congenial bone defect and thus improve childrens' lives.

LithaBone HA 480

Hip joint replacement

Osteoarthritis is one of the ten most disabling diseases in industrialised countries and can make hip replacement necessary. A common complication of traditional hip replacement is implant loosening due to stress shielding. One possible solution to these problems is short stems to preserve more healthy bone and minimise stress shielding.

In the course of an Open Call activity within the framework of the European InkPlant Projekt, Lithoz, Universidad Politécnica de Madrid and Universidad de Piura followed this approach to optimize the design for patient-specific short femoral stems and manufacture them via LCM technology from the bioceramics alumina-toughened zirconia (ATZ). This well-established biocompatible ceramic is especially suitable because of its high strength and low wear. The design process underwent several steps including a topological optimization resulting in a failure probability of less than 9*10^-10 and a weight reduction of more than 43%.

The 3D printing of high-performance ATZ enabled the manufacture of this innovative femoral stem implant in an efficient and easy way. Lithoz, together with the University partners, helped find a new treatment option for one of the most disabling diseases in developed countries.

Alumina-toughened zirconia (ATZ)

Arthroscopic tool

Minimal invasive surgery procedures allow for faster patient recovery, but require even smaller and more complex tools. High endurance and delicate features are required, particularly in the case of arthroscopy. Ceramics exhibit outstanding properties in terms of wear resistance, hardness and electrical insulation. Among other properties, these make ceramics the ideal material for surgical tools.

The manufacture of this arthroscopic shaver made of alumina-toughened zirconia (ATZ) would not be possible without the design freedom of Lithography-based Ceramic Manufacturing. The application perfectly illustrates the delicate features that can be achieved, such as rinsing channels, a guide for a fiber optic, as well as incredibly sharp cutting geometries.

LithaCon ATZ 980

Ulnar bone wedge

Even small deviations in the length or angle during healing of long bones can cause pain and severely restrict functionality. It is therefore vital to achieve absolute precision during the treatment of the defect to enhance or restore the patient's quality of life. This makes LCM technology the perfect choice for manufacturing such long bone implants.

3D-printed ceramic bone replacements from hydroxy apatite, like this ulnar wedge implant, offer patient-specific scaffolds which are replaced with new bone by the human body over time. Tricalcium phosphate is also available as a faster resorbable alternative. Due to their similarity to the mineral components of bone, LithaBone products have optimal biocompatibility and osteoconductivity and are therefore the ideal material for bone replacement even for critical size bone defects.

LithaBone HA 480

Finger joint implant

Arthritis and other diseases of joints wear which results in massive pain and mobility restrictions. By treatment with artificial joints, patients can regain their mobility and live their lives pain-free.

3D-printed ceramic implants, such as these finger joints from alumina-toughened zirconia (ATZ), show very good tribological properties which lead to high endurance without debris. Thanks to an interconnected lattice structure, the implant is safely fixed due to excellent osseointegration. In addition, except for titanium, the critical biodistribution from abrassion of metal implants into the human body is completely avoided, making ceramics a safe alternative.

LithaCon ATZ 980

3D-printed bioresorbable multi-material patient-specific jaw augmentation

Atrophy, i.e. missing bone volume, of the jaw is the long-term result of tooth loss. This loss of bone also prevents the replacement of these teeth with the current gold standard – dental implants - necessitating surgery to augment the volume of local bone with either harvested bone grafts or other materials.

One very promising novel approach is treatment with a 3D-printed bioresorbable multi-material patient-specific implant, i.e. made to perfectly integrate with the patient’s anatomy. The INKplant Project aims to develop this new treatment approach by combining the best properties of two established augmentation materials - tricalcium phosphate and hydroxyapatite - in one custom 3D-printed implant. Tricalcium phosphate promotes the fast ingrowth and generation of the jawbone due to its faster resorption time. The hydroxyapatite shell ensures the mechanical and volume stability of the implant during healing and replaces the membrane as a barrier against premature ingrowth of soft tissue, which would prevent bone formation.

This novel implant is designed to deliver predictable results and enable a quicker surgical procedure with reduced pain and swelling, benefitting the patient.

CeraFab Multi 2M30

LithaBone HA 480 for 3D-printed bone augmentation

Thanks to intensive cooperation with users of previous bone substitute ceramics, Lithoz developed the new LithaBone HA 480. 3D-printed parts made of hydroxyapatite are outstandingly resorbable, and thanks to important improvements they are ideally suited for bone replacement in the medical field:

- Significantly improved mechanical stability for dimensionally stable bone replacements

- Significantly increased geometric flexibility

- Significantly higher wall thicknesses of up to 10 mm

- 10-fold longer shelf-life

LithaBone HA 480

Silicon nitride

Silicon nitride is regarded as the optimum biocompatible high-performance ceramic, which has found its way from the aerospace industry into medicine. Due to its high strength, good osseointegrative properties and, of course, excellent biocompatibility, it is ideal for long-lasting implants.

It is used in orthopaedics and neurosurgery. In the latter, for example, it is used for the production of so-called spinal cages (interfusion bodies). This type of implant is used for the treatment of herniated discs for surgical spinal fusion.

LithaNit 782

High-performance ceramics for medical devices

The intracardiac pump made of bioinert aluminum oxide supplies the heart with blood after a heart attack or heart surgery. The application was developed by TU Wien and the Medical University of Vienna.

The alumina material used, LithaLox HP 500, is characterized by high mechanical strength and wear resistance as well as low surface roughness (Ra = 0.4 µm). This can reduce the formation of blood clots. The pump is driven by helium and ensures blood supply during the healing phase without electric current, which should prevent thermal damage to the surrounding tissue.

Bioinert high-performance ceramics with perfect surface quality can, for example, minimize cell interaction on components with direct blood contact and prevent blood clotting.

Bioresorbable patient-specific implants for bone replacement

A car accident resulting in a craniocerebral trauma might result in the need of pressure relief surgery (trepanation) to save the patient’s life. The cranial bone area removed must be replaced.


3D printing offers the possibility to produce patient-specific bioresorbable implants for faster healing. Furthermore, 3D printing allows the creation of an interconnected pore network where the size and shape of pores can be specifically designed to best support the healing process. Cells can enter these pores and form new blood vessels, subsequently encouraging resorption of the implant and the regeneration of native bone tissue. All this can be done without harming any animals as the materials are of non-animal sources and thus are vegan.

3D-printed implants
for the perfect fit
Recommended printer

CeraFab S65 Medical

The only LCM printer you will need for medical applications. From patient-specific implants to the series production of surgical instruments with complex structures, there is no compromise when it comes to absolute precision in medicine.

Recommended Material

LithaCon

Zirconia

The unique properties of zirconia, such as its biocompatibility and exceptional strength, make it very successful in the field of medicine. With Lithoz's LCM 3D printers, zirconia opens up entirely new possibilities for lattice structures, undercuts and channels.

Recommended Material

LithaBone

Hydroxyapatite / TCP

For total healing, LithaBone provides an innovative solution. The combination of resorbable material and defined macroporous geometries enables cell ingrowth and, consequently, both new vessel and bone regeneration.

Recommended Material

LithaNit

Silicon nitride

Our specialist for extreme conditions.. This flexible slurry, based on beta-SiAlON ceramic, can withstand even the harshest conditions thanks to its high strength, toughness, thermal shock resistance and chemical resistance to corrosion.

Do you Agree that every patient deserves biocompatible custom solutions?
Contact us today!
Something different in mind? Discover our other 3D printers!

CeraFab System S25

Our Materials at a Glance

Materials for medical applications

Hydroxylapatite

Tricalcium phosphate

Silicon nitride

Contact our Experts
Our experts will be happy to advise you on all questions relating to your medical applications.