Electron Beam Melting (EBM) is an AdditiveManufacturing technique which can be used to fabricate complex structures from alloys such as Ti6Al4V, for example for orthopaedic applications. Here we describe the use of EBM for the fabrication of a novel Ti6Al4V structure of a regular diamond lattice incorporating graded porosity, achieved via changes in the strut cross section thickness. Scanning Electron Microscopy and micro computed tomography analysis confirmed that generally EBM reproduced the CAD design of the lattice well, although at smaller strut sizes the fabricated lattice produced thicker struts than the model. Mechanical characterisation of the lattice in uniaxial compression showed that its behaviour under compression along the direction of gradation can be predicted to good accuracy with a simple rule of mixtures approach, knowing the properties and the behaviour of its constituent layers.

Abstract:Recently, an increasing amount of research has focused on the biological and mechanical behavior of highly porous structures of metallic biomaterials, as implant materials for dental implants. Particularly, pure titanium and its alloys are typically used due to their outstanding mechanical and biological properties. However, these materials have high stiffness (Young's modulus) in comparison to that of the host bone, which necessitates careful implant design to ensure appropriate distribution of stresses to the adjoining bone, to avoid stress-shielding or overloading, both of which lead to bone resorption. Additionally, many coating and roughening techniques are used to improve cell and bone-bonding to the implant surface. To date, several studies have revealed that porous geometry may be a promising alternative to bulk structures for dental implant applications. This review aims to summarize the evidence in the literature for the importance of porosity in the integration of dental implants with bone tissue and the different fabrication methods currently being investigated. In particular, additive manufacturing shows promise as a technique to control pore size and shape for optimum biological properties. OPEN ACCESSMetals 2015, 5 1903

Highly interconnected and 3D porous bioactive hydroxyapatite (HAP) and Bioglass scaffolds have been fabricated by an adaptive version of camphene based foam reticulation (ARM) and camphene freeze casting (CFC) methods. Controlled sublimation of camphene during freeze casting at -78°C produced process optimized bioscaffolds with open, uniform, and interconnected porous structures. HAP and Bioglass scaffolds with desired porosity, pore size, and microtopography were successfully fabricated using polyurethane foam templates of appropriate structures. Macropores of 50-1100 μm with microporosity of 1-10 μm, known to facilitate cell adhesion and proliferation, were obtained. Compressive yield strength of 0.8 MPa close to the upper range of cancellous bone was achieved. The mean compressive strength of HAP scaffolds compared favorably with the theoretical model of porosity variation with strength and was higher than reported values. The nature of pore development, morphology, porosity, crystal structure, chemical composition, and thermal behavior were characterized using scanning electron and optical microscopy, X-ray diffraction, thermal analysis, and mercury porosimetry. These scaffolds are suited for nonstructural graft and were not cytotoxic in vitro when osteoblast-like MG63 cells were cultured with the HAP constructs. The cells attached indicated by cell metabolic activity by resazurin assay and spread well when cultured on the surface of the materials.

The authors wish to make the following corrections to the citations in the published paper [1].[...]

A novel supercritical CO 2 foaming technique was used to fabricate scaffolds of controllable morphology and mechanical properties, with the potential to tailor the scaffolds to specific tissue engineering applications. Biodegradable scaffolds are widely used as temporary supportive structures for bone regeneration. The scaffolds must provide a sufficient mechanical support while allowing cell attachment and growth as well as metabolic activities. In this study, supercritical CO 2 foaming was acid/hydroxyapatite scaffolds in this study showed a potential to be used as bone graft substitutes.