Title: Fabrication of bioceramic/biopolymer bone implants using selective laser sintering

Authors: F. Cruz, T. Coole

Addresses: Higher School of Technology of Setubal, Polytechnic Institute of Setubal, Portugal. ' Faculty of Technology, Buckinghamshire Chilterns University College, UK

Abstract: This paper presents an overview of the research work carried out for the rapid manufacture of hydroxyapatite (HA) based components by means of Selective Laser Sintering (SLS) technique, to be used for bone tissue implantation aiming to replace and/or repair bone defects due to traumatised, damaged or lost bone. SLS is a Rapid Prototyping Technology (RPT) that selectively sinters powders of engineering materials by means of a CO₂ laser. HA is a bioceramic used since several years for medical applications although being mainly processed by conventional methods (cast, machined or manually produced). For this purpose CAD/CAM, RPT and medical imaging techniques were integrated and this enabled the customised production of anatomical models. This approach provides a direct method of producing HA-based prostheses.

Keywords: bioceramics; biomedical applications; biopolymers; direct implant fabrication; PLLA-HA composites; rapid prototyping; selective laser sintering; SLS; bone implants; hydroxyapatite prostheses; medical imaging; CADCAM; rapid manufacturing.

DOI: 10.1504/IJCAT.2009.026666

International Journal of Computer Applications in Technology, 2009 Vol.36 No.1, pp.16 - 24

Published online: 22 Jun 2009 *

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