title: Additively manufactured porous tantalum implants.
abstract: The medical device industry's interest in open porous, metallic biomaterials has increased in response to additive manufacturing techniques enabling the production of complex shapes that cannot be produced with conventional techniques. Tantalum is an important metal for medical devices because of its good biocompatibility. In this study selective laser melting technology was used for the first time to manufacture highly porous pure tantalum implants with fully interconnected open pores. The architecture of the porous structure in combination with the material properties of tantalum result in mechanical properties close to those of human bone and allow for bone ingrowth. The bone regeneration performance of the porous tantalum was evaluated in vivo using an orthotopic load-bearing bone defect model in the rat femur. After 12 weeks, substantial bone ingrowth, good quality of the regenerated bone and a strong, functional implant-bone interface connection were observed. Compared to identical porous Ti-6Al-4V structures, laser-melted tantalum shows excellent osteoconductive properties, has a higher normalized fatigue strength and allows for more plastic deformation due to its high ductility. It is therefore concluded that this is a first step towards a new generation of open porous tantalum implants manufactured using selective laser melting.
authors.affiliation: KU Leuven, Department of Mechanical Engineering, Section Production Engineering, Machine Design and Automation (PMA), Celestijnenlaan 300B, 3001 Leuven, Belgium; 3D Systems - LayerWise NV, Grauwmeer 14, 3001 Leuven, Belgium. Electronic address: ruben.wauthle@3dsystems.com.
authors.forename: Ruben
authors.initials: R
authors.lastname: Wauthle
authors.affiliation: Orthopaedic Research Laboratory, Department of Orthopaedics, Erasmus University Rotterdam Medical Centre, Rotterdam, The Netherlands.
authors.forename: Johan
authors.initials: J
authors.lastname: van der Stok
authors.affiliation: Faculty of Mechanical, Maritime, and Materials Engineering, Delft University of Technology (TU Delft), Mekelweg 2, 2628 CD Delft, The Netherlands.
authors.forename: Saber
authors.initials: S
authors.lastname: Amin Yavari
authors.affiliation: KU Leuven, Department of Materials Engineering, Kasteelpark Arenberg 44, PB2450, 3001 Leuven, Belgium.
authors.forename: Jan
authors.initials: J
authors.lastname: Van Humbeeck
authors.affiliation: KU Leuven, Department of Mechanical Engineering, Section Production Engineering, Machine Design and Automation (PMA), Celestijnenlaan 300B, 3001 Leuven, Belgium.
authors.forename: Jean-Pierre
authors.initials: JP
authors.lastname: Kruth
authors.affiliation: Faculty of Mechanical, Maritime, and Materials Engineering, Delft University of Technology (TU Delft), Mekelweg 2, 2628 CD Delft, The Netherlands.
authors.forename: Amir Abbas
authors.initials: AA
authors.lastname: Zadpoor
authors.affiliation: Faculty of Mechanical, Maritime, and Materials Engineering, Delft University of Technology (TU Delft), Mekelweg 2, 2628 CD Delft, The Netherlands; Department of Orthopedics & Department of Rheumatology, UMC Utrecht, Heidelberglaan 100, 3584 CX Utrecht, The Netherlands.
authors.forename: Harrie
authors.initials: H
authors.lastname: Weinans
authors.affiliation: KU Leuven, Department of Orthopaedics, Weligerveld 1, 3212 Pellenberg, Belgium.
authors.forename: Michiel
authors.initials: M
authors.lastname: Mulier
authors.affiliation: KU Leuven, Department of Materials Engineering, Kasteelpark Arenberg 44, PB2450, 3001 Leuven, Belgium; KU Leuven, Prometheus, Division of Skeletal Tissue Engineering, Bus 813, O&N1, Herestraat 49, 3000 Leuven, Belgium.
authors.forename: Jan
authors.initials: J
authors.lastname: Schrooten
mesh_terms: D000818:Animals; D002460:Cell Line; D019245:Compressive Strength / Q000187:drug effects; D005269:Femur / Q000000981:diagnostic imaging / Q000187:drug effects; D006801:Humans; D007834:Lasers; D008297:Male; D051379:Mice; D008855:Microscopy, Electron, Scanning; D016062:Porosity; D019736:Prostheses and Implants; D011859:Radiography; D017208:Rats, Wistar; D013635:Tantalum / Q000494:pharmacology*; D054159:Torsion, Mechanical
chemical_list: D013635:Tantalum
keywords: Bone regeneration; Porous biomaterials; Selective laser melting; Tantalum