Investigation of Patient-Specific Maxillofacial Implant Prototype Development by Metal Fused Filament Fabrication (MF3) of Ti-6Al-4V

Mohammad Qasim Shaikh; Subrata Deb Nath; Arulselvan Arumugam Akilan; Saleh Khanjar; Vamsi Krishna Balla; Gerald Thomas Grant; Sundar Vedanarayanan Atre

doi:10.3390/dj9100109

Investigation of Patient-Specific Maxillofacial Implant Prototype Development by Metal Fused Filament Fabrication (MF³) of Ti-6Al-4V

Dent J (Basel). 2021 Sep 23;9(10):109. doi: 10.3390/dj9100109.

Authors

Mohammad Qasim Shaikh¹, Subrata Deb Nath¹, Arulselvan Arumugam Akilan¹, Saleh Khanjar¹, Vamsi Krishna Balla^{1

2}, Gerald Thomas Grant³, Sundar Vedanarayanan Atre¹

Affiliations

¹ Materials Innovation Guild, University of Louisville, Louisville, KY 40208, USA.
² Bioceramics and Coating Division, CSIR-Central Glass and Ceramic Research Institute, 196 Raja S.C. Mullick Road, Kolkata 700 032, India.
³ School of Dentistry, University of Louisville, Louisville, KY 40202, USA.

Abstract

Additive manufacturing (AM) and related digital technologies have enabled several advanced solutions in medicine and dentistry, in particular, the design and fabrication of patient-specific implants. In this study, the feasibility of metal fused filament fabrication (MF³) to manufacture patient-specific maxillofacial implants is investigated. Here, the design and fabrication of a maxillofacial implant prototype in Ti-6Al-4V using MF³ is reported for the first time. The cone-beam computed tomography (CBCT) image data of the patient's oral anatomy was digitally processed to design a 3D CAD model of the hard tissue and fabricate a physical model by stereolithography (SLA). Using the digital and physical models, bone loss condition was analyzed, and a maxillofacial implant initial design was identified. Three-dimensional (3D) CAD models of the implant prototypes were designed that match the patient's anatomy and dental implant requirement. In this preliminary stage, the CAD models of the prototypes were designed in a simplified form. MF³ printing of the prototypes was simulated to investigate potential deformation and residual stresses. The patient-specific implant prototypes were fabricated by MF³ printing followed by debinding and sintering using a support structure for the first time. MF³ printed green part dimensions fairly matched with simulation prediction. Sintered parts were characterized for surface integrity after cutting the support structures off. An overall 18 ± 2% shrinkage was observed in the sintered parts relative to the green parts. A relative density of 81 ± 4% indicated 19% total porosity including 11% open interconnected porosity in the sintered parts, which would favor bone healing and high osteointegration in the metallic implants. The surface roughness of Ra: 18 ± 5 µm and a Rockwell hardness of 6.5 ± 0.8 HRC were observed. The outcome of the work can be leveraged to further investigate the potential of MF³ to manufacture patient-specific custom implants out of Ti-6Al-4V.

Keywords: additive manufacturing; biomedical; maxillofacial restoration; metal fused filament fabrication; patient-specific implant; simulation; titanium Ti-6Al-4V.