3D Printing of multi-material Implant (part 2) - The Workflow and the pre-clinical validation
ProgettoAdditive Manufacturing (AM) is recognized as a key technology for fabricating customized, high-added-value, and patient-specific biomedical devices. The growing demand for personalized healthcare is driving the transition from standardized implants toward digitally integrated and functionally tailored medical solutions. Despite significant advances in biomedical AM, critical challenges still limit the development of reliable multi-material systems combining metals and polymers within manufacturable and biologically functional architectures.
In this context, the project 3DPRIN II aims to advance the scientific and technological foundations of hybrid multi-material AM for patient-specific biomedical implants. Building on the results of the previously funded project 3DPRIN - 3DPRINting of multi-material parts for cranial implants (P2022PMMWX), the research team demonstrated the feasibility of integrating Powder Bed Fusion (PBF) and Material Extrusion (MEX) technologies into a hybrid cranial implant composed of a titanium core embedded within a polymeric shell. These preliminary results highlighted new challenges related to material integration, surgery-driven design, biological functionality, and manufacturability which represent the core focus of the present project.
Accordingly, the project adopts cranioplasty as a clinically relevant case study. Although customized cranial implants already represent valuable clinical solutions, current approaches remain limited by high costs, restricted material customization, poor osteointegration, and insufficient integration between functional and surgical requirements.
To address these challenges, the project adopts an integrated multidisciplinary strategy combining advanced materials development, surgery-driven implant design, hybrid multi-material integration, and multilevel validation. Functionalized polymeric systems and implant-grade metallic structures will be optimized according to clinical, biological, and manufacturing-related requirements. In parallel, a data-driven methodology based on patient-specific anatomical datasets will support clinically consistent implant architectures and surgical workflows. Particular attention will be devoted to the integration between metallic and polymeric components through tailored bonding strategies and Design for AM approaches aimed at improving manufacturability, osteointegration-oriented functionality, and structural reliability. Comprehensive geometrical, mechanical, biological, and surgery-oriented assessments will provide quantitative evidence regarding the performance and reproducibility of hybrid patient-specific implant systems.
Beyond the cranioplasty demonstrator, the project aims to generate transferable methodologies and integrated digital-to-physical workflows relevant to biomedical engineering, additive manufacturing, and personalized healthcare.
In this context, the project 3DPRIN II aims to advance the scientific and technological foundations of hybrid multi-material AM for patient-specific biomedical implants. Building on the results of the previously funded project 3DPRIN - 3DPRINting of multi-material parts for cranial implants (P2022PMMWX), the research team demonstrated the feasibility of integrating Powder Bed Fusion (PBF) and Material Extrusion (MEX) technologies into a hybrid cranial implant composed of a titanium core embedded within a polymeric shell. These preliminary results highlighted new challenges related to material integration, surgery-driven design, biological functionality, and manufacturability which represent the core focus of the present project.
Accordingly, the project adopts cranioplasty as a clinically relevant case study. Although customized cranial implants already represent valuable clinical solutions, current approaches remain limited by high costs, restricted material customization, poor osteointegration, and insufficient integration between functional and surgical requirements.
To address these challenges, the project adopts an integrated multidisciplinary strategy combining advanced materials development, surgery-driven implant design, hybrid multi-material integration, and multilevel validation. Functionalized polymeric systems and implant-grade metallic structures will be optimized according to clinical, biological, and manufacturing-related requirements. In parallel, a data-driven methodology based on patient-specific anatomical datasets will support clinically consistent implant architectures and surgical workflows. Particular attention will be devoted to the integration between metallic and polymeric components through tailored bonding strategies and Design for AM approaches aimed at improving manufacturability, osteointegration-oriented functionality, and structural reliability. Comprehensive geometrical, mechanical, biological, and surgery-oriented assessments will provide quantitative evidence regarding the performance and reproducibility of hybrid patient-specific implant systems.
Beyond the cranioplasty demonstrator, the project aims to generate transferable methodologies and integrated digital-to-physical workflows relevant to biomedical engineering, additive manufacturing, and personalized healthcare.