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Structural and mechanical evaluations of a topology optimized titanium interbody fusion cage fabricated by selective laser melting process
Author(s) -
Lin ChiaYing,
Wirtz Tobias,
LaMarca Frank,
Hollister Scott J.
Publication year - 2007
Publication title -
journal of biomedical materials research part a
Language(s) - English
Resource type - Journals
SCImago Journal Rank - 0.849
H-Index - 150
eISSN - 1552-4965
pISSN - 1549-3296
DOI - 10.1002/jbm.a.31231
Subject(s) - materials science , selective laser melting , microstructure , porosity , scanning electron microscope , composite material , titanium alloy , fusion , titanium , modulus , biomedical engineering , cage , alloy , structural engineering , metallurgy , medicine , linguistics , philosophy , engineering
A topology optimized lumbar interbody fusion cage was made of Ti‐Al6‐V4 alloy by the rapid prototyping process of selective laser melting (SLM) to reproduce designed microstructure features. Radiographic characterizations and the mechanical properties were investigated to determine how the structural characteristics of the fabricated cage were reproduced from design characteristics using micro‐computed tomography scanning. The mechanical modulus of the designed cage was also measured to compare with tantalum, a widely used porous metal. The designed microstructures can be clearly seen in the micrographs of the micro‐CT and scanning electron microscopy examinations, showing the SLM process can reproduce intricate microscopic features from the original designs. No imaging artifacts from micro‐CT were found. The average compressive modulus of the tested caged was 2.97 ± 0.90 GPa, which is comparable with the reported porous tantalum modulus of 3 GPa and falls between that of cortical bone (15 GPa) and trabecular bone (0.1–0.5 GPa). The new porous Ti‐6Al‐4V optimal‐structure cage fabricated by SLM process gave consistent mechanical properties without artifactual distortion in the imaging modalities and thus it can be a promising alternative as a porous implant for spine fusion. © 2007 Wiley Periodicals, Inc. J Biomed Mater Res 2007