In the Laboratory of Biomechanics of the University of Debrecen, test implants of joint replacement endoprostheses based on the principle of fixation were made from a tissue-friendly titanium alloy with 3D printing within the framework of a multi-year project. New solutions can also be translated into clinical practice.
The consortium led by VARINEX Zrt. – whose members are the University of Debrecen, the University of Nyíregyháza and Kereken-Pálya Kft. – in 2017, he was awarded a grant to implement a project entitled Research on the Osteophesis of Implants and the Development of a Trabecular Structure Using Additive Manufacturing.
This project is a school example of translational medicine. Practitioners are faced with the fact that they cannot solve certain problems with the available tools or with compromises, so they are developing something new so that the results can be applied in patient care as soon as possible.
– emphasized László Mátyus, Dean of the Faculty of General Medicine at the University of Debrecen.
The four-year tender developed new titanium-based bone and joint replacement metal implants using animal experiments and image processing technologies. The new so-called trabecular structure ensures bone implantation better than any solution known so far. Their method is intended to be used in surgeries in cases where the function cannot be restored with traditional hip prostheses due to significant bone deficiency.
Titanium is a very well-proven implant material, tissue-friendly. In this application, we looked for the microstructure into which bone can grow the most. We designed a new kind of fixation. The implant is not glued with bone cement, it is not fixed with a screw, but it is prepared so that the bone will appear on it as if it had always been one – explained Zoltán Csernátony, the professional manager of the project.
The main goal of the tender was to produce a bone and joint replacement implant with significantly higher time and cost-effective methods, industrial 3D printing, and Additive Manufacturing (AM) technology, which provides a higher degree of biocompatibility, compatibility, and biofunctionality for the human body, it allows the most important functions of the biological system to be taken over more efficiently, with faster healing and significantly longer usability.
The material development was established by the two universities involved in the project in cooperation with each other, and then direct feedback was provided through the partial results of animal experiments, which ensured a high-quality implementation of the multi-cycle development process and its internationally remarkable results.
As a member of the consortium, the experts of the University of Debrecen developed a CT scan analysis system, created a bone defect model for animal experiments, created a theoretical model of trabecular implants, designed and fabricated the results of titanium-based 3D printing.
By the end of the project, the members of the consortium have created and implemented a unique system in Hungary in the field of the application of bone and joint replacement implants, including image processing algorithms and animal experiments. preparation of implant preforms.
The project was extremely successful. The members of the consortium have created a knowledge that allows us to perform a wide variety of bone restorations together. We are now working to use the new custom implants in the clinic in a short time – said György Falk, Strategic Director of Varinex Zrt.
The project with a total budget of HUF 2 billion, which ended at the end of January, was implemented with more than HUF 1.6 billion in EU and government support (GINOP-2.2.1-15-2017-0005).
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