Biomechanical Analysis of Non-Metallic Biomaterial in the Manufacture of a New Knee Prosthesis

Abstract

The increase in the number of revision surgeries after a total knee replacement surgery reaches 19%. One of the reasons for the majority of revisions relates to the debris of the ultra-high molecular weight polyethylene that serves to facilitate the sliding between the femoral and tibial components. This paper addresses the biomechanical properties of ULTEMTM 1010 in a totally new knee replacement design, based on one of the commercial models of the Stryker manufacturer. It is designed and produced through additive manufacturing that replaces the tibial component and the polyethylene in such a way as to reduce the pieces that are part of the prosthetic assembly to only two: the femoral and the tibial (the so-called “two-component knee prosthesis”). The cytotoxicity as well as the live/dead tests carried out on a series of biomaterials guarantee the best osteointegration of the studied material. The finite element simulation method guarantees the stability of the material before a load of 2000 N is applied in the bending angles 0°, 30°, 60°, 90°, and 120°. Thus, the non-metallic prosthetic material and approach represent a promising alternative for metal-allergic patients.

A Comparative Study of Turbulence Methods Applied to the Design of a 3D-Printed Scaffold and the Selection of the Appropriate Numerical Scheme to Simulate the Scaffold for Tissue Engineering

“…The same material was used for the support material by means of a T16 type nozzle (0.254 mm) according to [15]. As reported by the manufacturer's data sheet (see an extract in Table 1), the YZ orientation in the manufacture of the scaffold presents a higher tensile stress value, and thus, such a configuration was used in the machine's software [33]. 1.27 1 The orientation of the coordinate axis (according to [40]).…”

“…In regard to Suffo [31] and Suffo et al [32], the commercial PEI-ULTEM 1010 material was subjected to tests that were meant to solve the adhesion problems in dental prostheses. Additionally, this material has had the best result in a recent cytotoxicity test (ratio live/dead) as can be seen in reference [33], improving on materials such as Ti5, polyether ether ketone (PEEK) and even on PLA itself. Thus, this material is worth trying as a scaffold due to its good biocompatibility and viability properties in cell growth.…”

Material Extrusion 3D Printing (ME3DP) Process Simulations of Polymeric Porous Scaffolds for Bone Tissue Engineering

“…For instance, Tang et al [ 38 ] manufactured PEI scaffolds through a 3DP process and evaluated their physical, mechanical, and biological performance. Likewise, Suffo and Revenga [ 39 ] investigated the biomechanical performance of a commercial polymer (ULTEMTM 1010) for knee replacement. Polyakov et al [ 40 ] performed thermomechanical analysis on 3D-printed carbon nanofiber-reinforced PEI nanocomposites.…”