Additive Manufacturing Status in the Orthopedics Industry (Orthopedic Design & Technology)
see all 3D Printing stories
Implants expo organizer offers a brief synopsis of the sector.
Zimmer, one of the major orthopedic companies, penetrated this market 15 years ago with a proprietary technology acquired from Implex, thereby opening the trabecular structure market with an investment of several hundred million U.S. dollars.
In 1997, Zimmer used clinically trabecular metal based on the tantalum vapor deposit process for the hip cup. In 2007, Adler Ortho (Italy) used its first trabecular titanium cup—Fixa Ti-Por. Between 2008-2011, 109 Lima Delta TT cups were implanted in 98 patients. In 2009, Medtronic launched the Fuse Lumbar PLIF Cage made via additive manufacturing. In 2011, Exactech was the first U.S. company to offer FDA-cleared implants made via additive manufacturing technology; its Intergrip porous metal acetabular represented the first implantation.
The main benefit of additive manufacturing for orthopedics is the bone ingrowth capabilities. It also enables the manufacture of complex metal parts simultaneously for different sizes, shapes, and design. In the industrial fiel...
