Date of Award

6-2014

Document Type

Open Access

Degree Name

Bachelor of Science

Department

Mechanical Engineering

First Advisor

Glenn P. Sanders

Language

English

Keywords

bone, implant, design, osseointegration, patient

Abstract

Metastatic bone cancer often arises in the long bones of the body. Taking a patient specific approach by utilizing a customized implant is a superior method of treatment compared to today’s solutions, which often includes amputation. A titanium-alloy femur implant has been optimized by varying pore size, pore pattern, and porosity in order to maximize osseointegration. By maximizing osseointegration, the implant will remain firmly in place for a longer period of time because bone will grow throughout the implant, securing it. In addition, it is important for the bone to behave mechanically like bone. This requires the global elastic modulus of the implant to decrease from 115 GPa to a value between 10-20 GPa, the elastic modulus of the femur. The final design has an effective elastic modulus of 17.6 GPa and has a global porosity of 54%. This design has been analyzed for typical loads a patient may experience such as walking, running, and jumping using finite element analysis. Furthermore, this design has been manufacturing using a 3D printing process. Mechanical loading tests have been performed to compare the results with the FEA results and 3D printing has been evaluated as a method for custom implant manufacturing.

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