Is there a future for additive manufactured titanium bioglass composites in biomedical application? A perspective

Abstract

Additive manufacturing (AM) of orthopedic implants is growing in popularity as it offers almost complete design flexibility and freedom, meaning complex geometries mimicking specific body parts can be easily produced. Novel composite materials with optimized functionalities present opportunities for 3D printing osteoconductive implants with desirable mechanical properties. Standard metals for bone implants, such as titanium and its alloys, are durable and nontoxic but lack bioactivity. Bioactive glasses promote strong bone formation but are susceptible to brittle failure. Metal-bioactive glass composites, however, may combine the mechanical reliability of metals with the bone-bonding ability of bioactive glasses, potentially reducing the incidence of implant failure. Processing such composites by AM paves the way for producing unprecedented bespoke parts with highly porous lattices, whose stiffness can be tailored to meet the mechanical properties of natural bone tissue. This Perspective focuses on titanium-bioactive glass composites, critically discussing their processability by AM and highlighting their potential as a next-generation implantable biomaterial.

Embedding Function within Additively Manufactured Parts: Materials Challenges and Opportunities

“…There have been numerous studies on the incorporation of bioactive materials, including bioactive glasses, into laser‐based AM builds for bone grafting. [ 94 ] However, a significant challenge is ensuring the bioactive phases do not react with the bulk implant material nor crystallize after exposure to the laser. As binder jetting is carried out at low temperature, it may be far more amenable for producing polymer‐based implants bioactivated by the presence of bioglass or calcium phosphates (if postprinting sintering at high temperature is required, this may still damage the bioactive filler, though).…”

Tribocorrosion and Surface Protection Technology of Titanium Alloys: A Review

“…It benefits preparing medical metal porous implant devices with complex structures. The large number of pores inside the porous material is more conducive to the growth of surrounding cells and the growth of new bone, thus significantly promoting the ability of bone tissue formation [ 131 , 132 , 133 ]. Therefore, porous titanium alloy implant devices have become a research hotspot in metal implants.…”

Electrophoretic Deposition of ZnO-Containing Bioactive Glass Coatings on AISI 316L Stainless Steel for Biomedical Applications

“…An added value of such a bioactive glass layer is the possibility of tuning its composition to include extra functionalities. Ion-replaced bioactive glass coatings can be designed for different purposes without any major associated toxicity and infections [14,15]. Overall, bioactive glasses can serve as a coating layer to improve the integration of metal implants into the tissue by stimulating apatite formation at the implant/tissue interface.…”