Additive Manufacturing in Total Joint Arthroplasty

Sneha Prabha Narra; Peter N Mittwede; Sandra DeVincent Wolf; Kenneth L Urish

doi:10.1016/j.ocl.2018.08.009

Additive Manufacturing in Total Joint Arthroplasty

Orthop Clin North Am. 2019 Jan;50(1):13-20. doi: 10.1016/j.ocl.2018.08.009.

Authors

Sneha Prabha Narra¹, Peter N Mittwede², Sandra DeVincent Wolf³, Kenneth L Urish⁴

Affiliations

¹ NextManufacturing Center, College of Engineering, Carnegie Mellon University, 5000 Forbes Avenue, Pittsburgh, PA 15213, USA. Electronic address: snehaprabhanarra@gmail.com.
² Department of Orthopaedic Surgery, University of Pittsburgh School of Medicine, 3471 Fifth Avenue, Suite 1010, Pittsburgh, PA 15213, USA.
³ NextManufacturing Center, College of Engineering, Carnegie Mellon University, 5000 Forbes Avenue, Pittsburgh, PA 15213, USA.
⁴ Department of Orthopaedic Surgery, Arthritis and Arthroplasty Design Group, Magee-Womens Hospital, University of Pittsburgh School of Medicine, 300 Halket Street, Pittsburgh, PA 15213, USA; The Bone and Joint Center, Magee-Womens Hospital, University of Pittsburgh School of Medicine, 300 Halket Street, Pittsburgh, PA 15213, USA.

Abstract

Additive manufacturing (AM) has demonstrated the potential to revolutionize manufacturing for various applications across the medical, aerospace, automobile, and energy sectors. It is a layer-by-layer manufacturing process in which the computer-aided design model is sliced into layers and each layer is deposited successively to realize the final product. This article provides a general overview of AM and discusses current state-of-the-art AM methodologies as they apply to total joint arthroplasty. Specifically, details on their applications and current challenges are summarized to provide orthopedic surgeons with a basic understanding of current and potential applications of AM in total joint arthroplasty.

Keywords: 3-D printing; Additive manufacturing (AM); Electron beam melting (EBM); Laser powder bed fusion (LPBF); Metal implants; Orthopedics; Total joint arthroplasty.

Publication types

Review

MeSH terms

Arthroplasty / legislation & jurisprudence*
Computer-Aided Design*
Humans
Manufacturing Industry / methods*
Orthopedic Equipment*

Abstract

Publication types

MeSH terms

Grants and funding