UK Precision Engineering Chard Somerset & Exeter Devon

Development of 3D printed implants to promote bone growth

3D printed implants have been developed by a team in NYU’s Medicine and Dentistry colleges which have been created to act a a type of scaffolding to help bones to repair and regenerate over time. Formed as a gel-like substance, the implants are produced with tricalcium phosphate and is set to resemble the bone after being heated, eventually turning the gel substance into a ceramic implant. 

As the impact and gel contain similar compounds to the ones found in real bone, natural bone will use the implant as a template to regrow in place of the impact, which dissolves over time. This process is said to help speed up the regeneration period of bone as the Dipyridamole is said to attract new bone stem cells and thin the blood, resulting in the time taken for a bone to heal to decrease by approximately 50%, sometimes even more. 

“Our three-dimensional scaffold represents the best implant in development because of its ability to regenerate real bone,” said senior investigator and biomedical engineer Paulo G Coelho, who works across NYU’s dentistry and medical schools. “Our latest study results move us closer to clinical trials and potential bone implants for children living with skull deformations since birth, as well as for veterans seeking to repair damaged limbs.”

“Dipyridamole has proven to be key to the implant’s success,” said study co-investigator Bruce N Cronstein, a professor at NYU School of Medicine. “And because the implant is gradually resorbed, the drug is released a little at a time and locally into the bone, not into the whole body, thereby minimising risks of abnormal bone growth, bleeding, or other side effects.”

Photo Credit: The Engineer