Rapid prototyping of replica knee implants for in vitro testing

Abstract

The understanding of the complex biomechanics of the knee is a key for an optimal implant design. To easily investigate the influence of prosthetic designs on knee biomechanics a rapid prototyping workflow for knee implants has been developed and evaluated. Therefore, different manufacturing technologies and post-treatment methods have been examined and overall seven different replica knee implants were manufactured. For evaluation, the manufacturing properties such as surface accuracy and roughness were determined and kinematic behaviour was investigated in a novel knee testing rig. It was carried out that PolyJet-Modelling with a sanded surface resulted in changed kinematic patterns compared to a usual CoCr-UHMWPE implant. However, fused deposition modelling using ABS and subsequent surface smoothening with acetone vapor showed the lowest roughness of the manufactured implants and only minor kinematic differences. For this reason this method constitutes a promising approach towards an optimal implant design for improved patient-satisfaction and long lifetime of the implant. Finally the workflow is not only limited to the knee.