DentABone

Motivation

Dental implants are a well-established method for treating tooth loss. However, their use requires sufficient bone volume in the jaw. Tooth loss is often followed by bone resorption, making bone grafting necessary as a preliminary step. The current state of the art involves implants or membranes that support bone regeneration but must be removed in a second surgery after successful regeneration. This additional surgery entails increased surgical effort and places an extra burden on patients. Additive manufactured lattice structures offer the potential to produce patient-specific implants with tailored mechanical properties for permanent placement in the body. However, fine-mesh lattices remain a major challenge in additive manufacturing. Local variations in heat dissipation, differing part orientations, and complex knot points lead to inhomogeneous process conditions and cause porosity, dimensional deviations, or undesirable changes in properties.

Objectives

The aim of this sub-project is to develop methods for the local adaptation of process parameters in additive manufacturing in order to specifically improve the quality and functionality of additive manufactured lattice implants. Locally adapted process control is intended to compensate for process-related fluctuations and achieve reproducible part properties. At the same time, it should be possible to specifically adjust graded properties within the lattice structure. This allows the mechanical stability of the implant to be precisely adapted to the requirements of bone regeneration. The implant must be sufficiently stable to support bone growth while simultaneously allowing mechanical loading of the newly formed bone. In addition to improving quality, local adaptation of process parameters therefore opens up an additional degree of freedom for the patient-specific design of implants. The long-term goal is to develop implants that can remain in the body permanently, thereby avoiding a second surgery for implant removal.

Approaches

In order to achieve the project objectives, the additive manufacturing process for relevant materials will first be pre-qualified through experimental testing. This will involve determining process windows and process limits for the production of dense specimens and fine lattice struts. Based on this, an automated process preparation system will be developed that enables the local assignment of process parameters. Subsequently, experimental tests will be carried out to analyze the effects of local parameter adaptations on part quality and function. Both geometric properties as well as microstructural and mechanical properties of the lattice structures will be evaluated. Process monitoring data from optical sensor systems will be used to measure the thermal boundary conditions during the manufacturing process. Based on this data, gray-box models are developed that describe the influence of geometric and process-related factors. These models enable the targeted calculation of locally adapted process parameters, leading to more stable process control as well as improved part quality and functional properties.

Acknowledgements

This project is funded by the Federal Ministry of Research, Technology, and Space (BMFTR) and the project management agency VDI Technologiezentrum GmbH as part of the MECEOR Industry-in-Clinic platform. We are grateful for the opportunity to work on this project.

Funding source

Project sponsors

Research network or structure

Consortium partners