title: Micro-CT based modelling for characterising injection-moulded porous titanium implants.
abstract: Design of prosthetic implants to ensure rapid and stable osseointegration remains a significant challenge, and continuous efforts have been directed to new implant materials, structures and morphology. This paper aims to develop and characterise a porous titanium dental implant fabricated by metallic powder injection-moulding. The surface morphology of the specimens was first examined with a scanning electron microscope (SEM), followed by microscopic computerised tomography (μ-CT) scanning to capture its 3D microscopic features non-destructively. The nature of porosity and pore sizes were determined statistically. A homogenisation technique based on the Hills-energy theorem was adopted to evaluate its directional elastic moduli, and the conservation of mass theorem was employed to quantify the oxygen diffusivity for bio-transportation feature. This porous medium was found to have pore sizes varying from 50 to 400 µm and the average porosity of 46.90 ± 1.83%. The anisotropic principal elastic moduli were found fairly close to the upper range of cortical bone, and the directional diffusivities could potentially enable radial osseous tissue ingrowth and vascularisation. This porous titanium successfully reduces the elastic modulus mismatch between implant and bone for dental and orthopaedic applications, and provides improved capacity for transporting oxygen, nutrient and waste for pre-vascular network formation. Copyright © 2016 John Wiley & Sons, Ltd.
authors.affiliation: School of Aerospace, Mechanical and Mechatronic Engineering, The University of Sydney, NSW, 2006, Australia.
authors.forename: Junning
authors.initials: J
authors.lastname: Chen
authors.affiliation: State Key Laboratory of Powder Metallurgy, Central South University, Changsha, 410083, People's Republic of China.
authors.forename: Liangjian
authors.initials: L
authors.lastname: Chen
authors.affiliation: School of Aerospace, Mechanical and Mechatronic Engineering, The University of Sydney, NSW, 2006, Australia.
authors.forename: Che-Cheng
authors.initials: CC
authors.lastname: Chang
authors.affiliation: School of Aerospace, Mechanical and Mechatronic Engineering, The University of Sydney, NSW, 2006, Australia.
authors.forename: Zhongpu
authors.initials: Z
authors.lastname: Zhang
authors.affiliation: School of Aerospace, Mechanical and Mechatronic Engineering, The University of Sydney, NSW, 2006, Australia.
authors.forename: Wei
authors.initials: W
authors.lastname: Li
authors.affiliation: Faculty of Dentistry, The University of Sydney, NSW, 2006, Australia.
authors.forename: Michael V
authors.initials: MV
authors.lastname: Swain
authors.affiliation: School of Aerospace, Mechanical and Mechatronic Engineering, The University of Sydney, NSW, 2006, Australia.
authors.forename: Qing
authors.initials: Q
authors.lastname: Li
mesh_terms: D015921:Dental Implants; D004058:Diffusion; D055119:Elastic Modulus; D006801:Humans; D008422:Materials Testing; D008855:Microscopy, Electron, Scanning; D016348:Osseointegration; D010100:Oxygen / Q000378:metabolism; D016062:Porosity; D013499:Surface Properties; D014025:Titanium; D055114:X-Ray Microtomography / Q000379:methods*
chemical_list: D015921:Dental Implants; D014025:Titanium; D010100:Oxygen
keywords: anisotropic elasticity; diffusivity; homogenisation; injection moulding; osseointegration; porous implant