Arcam Rapid Prototyping
Successful skull reconstruction with Rapid Manufacturing.
A young woman suffered a tragedy in a car accident, and a large part of her skull bone had to be removed by the neurosurgeon in order to relieve the pressure on the brain.
A skull reconstruction was then made by using Rapid Manufacturing to fabricate an implant. The extent of the implant can be seen in the CAD image to the right.
Since the cranial plate must fit perfectly on the patient’s skull you need to incorporate scanned anatomical data into the design.
The implant size is 180 x 130 x 5 mm, and it was designed by Instrument Development Engineering & Evaluation (IDEE) at Maastricht University in the Netherlands.
The implant was then manufactured in the titanium alloy Ti6Al4V by FIT Fruth Innovative Technologien in Parsberg, Germany, using an Arcam EBM S12 machine.
The implant was built to net shape in 12 hours and finished with moderate manual polishing. The mechanical properties were excellent with 100% density of the material.
Arcam’s EBM technology manufactured the implant by melting thin layers of titanium powder. The energy source is an Electron Beam Gun and the process takes place in a vacuum chamber. The vacuum ensures very high purity of the material which is of great importance in implant manufacture.
The combination of vacuum and a high power energy source yields high strength properties of the material. Implants produced with EBM feature a chemical composition within stipulated standards, fully solid material with fine micro- structure, high ductility and good fatigue characteristics.
The surgery was performed by a team of surgeons led by Dr. Jules Poukens, Vice Chairman at the Department of Cranio-Maxillofacial Surgery at the University Hospital in Maastricht, and the pioneer behind using Rapid Manufacturing to fabricate the implant.
During the surgery a drill indicator was first used to indicate the fixation lips of the implant. The lips need to be at bone level and not above.
The implant was then fitted for seating and fixated with titanium screws.
The implant had a perfect fit during the operation and healed in without any complications. The entire operation took less than 2 hours, and the procedure made it possible to get normal aesthetics and brain function and protection of the inner tissue.
EBM implants are faster and cheaper to manufacture compared to a CNC machine. The design aspect is smoother and less complicated with an EBM manufactured part and the surface is almost perfect for implants.
