Case Study
Acetabular CupsWhat do you get when you want to achieve the best results for hip replacement? Our team shares the start-to-finish process of designing and manufacturing Acetabular Cups.
Intro
Benefits of AM for Ortho
“Additive manufacturing is a clear winner as far as superior clinical outcomes for patients,” said Brian McLaughlin, CEO & Founder of Amplify Additive. “Hip cups are a great example where there is a significant improvement in initial fixation and bone in-growth, coupled with the reduction of supply chain, there are simply no questions about it.”
Brian McLaughlin
Interview in Orthopedic Design Technology Magazine
Key Considerations
Time to Market, Quality & Cost
Challenge
Acetabular cups, or hip cups, have used traditional manufacturing, such as casting, along with secondary coatings and other procedures to build an orthopedic implant. The full design and traditional manufacturing of a hip cup is an involved and time consuming process.
Solution
Using Additive Manufacturing, specifically Electron Beam Melting (EBM), not only gets the product to market faster, it also uses titanium, a bio-compatible material. This induces a more osteogenic environment for bone in-growth and bone on-growth.
traditional Manufacturing
26-38 weeks
Electron BEam Melting
14-22 weeks
Reduction in Time to Market
Up to 58%
Improved osseointegration
Clinical Benefits
Challenge
Existing technology for orthopedic adhesion and fusion relies on sintered or sprayed coatings. The resulting pore sizes of traditional coatings range from 100-300 microns, well below the pore sizes many clinical studies have identified for optimal bone in-growth.
Solution
Additive manufacturing (AM) replaces traditional coatings with 3-dimensional lattice structures, which improve initial fixation and allow for faster fusion and bone in-growth. Lattice structures are designed for a clinically optimized pore size of 650 microns.
Traditional Coating Pore Sizes
100-300 µm
EBM pore Size
400-800 µm
Optimal Pore Size
650 µm
Technology Overview
EBM vs. Laser
Challenge
When it comes to Additive Manufacturing, there are two existing technologies designed for orthopedics; EBM or Laser. However, how do you choose which technology to leverage for orthopedics?
Solution
EBM is a clear winner when it comes to additively manufactured acetabular cups. The EBM process allows for maximum use of the build volume by stacking parts. Parts are removed by hand and have material properties exceeding ASTM standards (F2924, F3001).
LAser: Single Build Setup
12 cups
EBM: Single Build Setup
54 cups
Testimonial
“This project epitomizes what is means to leverage AM for orthopedics.”
Brian McLaughlin, CEO & Founder Amplify Additive
Conclusion
EBM for Acetabular Cups
Time to Market is a critical success factor for orthopedic companies. EBM is emerging as the go-to technology for orthopedic implants. When designing additively manufactured parts that will reside inside the human body, such as acetabular cups, clinical relevance is a natural part of the process. EBM has demonstrated to have improved clinical outcomes leading to greater patient and surgeon satisfaction.
Additive manufacturing is changing how we are thinking about designing and engineering implants and is fueling the future of the Orthopedic industry.
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Resources
Additive | Orthopedic | Excellence
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