“Customized Titanium Implant for Load Bearing Functional Applications (02/12/21)”
Speaker and Affliation:
Dr. Pavan Kumar Srivas
School of Materials Engineering,
Purdue University
When?
2nd December, 2021 (Thursday), 04:30 PM (India Standard Time)
Location
Abstract
For patients needing bone or joint replacements, orthopaedic implants mean the difference between freedom of movement or dependence on canes, walkers, and wheelchairs. An aging global population is accelerating the need for better, longer-lasting implants. Additive manufacturing makes it possible to fabricate patient-specific, titanium-alloy-based implants with tailored, three-dimensional, bone-like pores and internal surfaces for forming new bone for superior integration. However, a stubborn barrier remains. Most of the implants developed by additive manufacturing technologies involve melting the materials by high energy beam, thereby increasing the operational cost for maintaining inert environment especially with reactive metals like titanium, magnesium and their alloys. In this talk, I will cover two stories, firstly, green fabrication, one the best alternative routes as there are absence of significant thermal gradients and associated stresses during printing, avoidance of solidification-induced defects, lower oxygen contamination, and lower printing cost. The second part, I will discuss the methods to improve interfacial bonding of the implants. Current line-of-sight clinical methods enhance osseointegration but can’t reach all internal surfaces of porous implants. I will present a non-line-of-sight, gas/solid-reaction-based process that is capable of generating well-controlled nanotopographies on all open (gasexposed) surfaces of these implants. Overall, this research will demonstrate simple, user friendly and cost-effective route for developing titanium implants/equivalents with enhanced interfacial bonding for load bearing functional implant applications.