Custom Design and Manufacturing of Canine Knee Implants

Abstract

Arthritis is a very common joint disease. Knee and hip arthritis are increasing in humans and as the final treatment joints are replaced by implants. With more younger and active patients suffering from arthritis, a need has arisen to increase longevity by using customized implants. However, to obtain authorization for implantation of such prosthesis extensive trials are required. Arthritis is also very common in canines. One in every four dogs and cats are likely to develop arthritis before the end of their lives. Hip implants are commercially available for canines but due to large variations in sizes, knee (stifle) implants are not available. To conduct the clinical trials for the newly developed custom implant for humans and provide a new treatment for arthritis in canines, a custom design and manufacturing of knee implants for dogs is proposed herewith. The proposed custom design of implant has become possible with the advancement in medical imaging, bio-modeling, mass customization, reverse engineering, rapid prototyping, rapid tooling, and advanced CAD modeling. In this research, CT scan data was converted into CAD model and using advanced CAD modeling functions a patient specific canine knee implant was designed. A new process for manufacturing custom implants is also proposed. With the introduction of Electron Beam Melting (EBM) process, direct fabrication of fully dense components is now possible. The designed custom canine knee implants were manufactured in biocompatible Titanium alloy (Ti6Al4V) using EBM technology. This research introduces a complete process of designing and manufacturing of, firsts of its kind, custom canine knee implants.

Description

Keywords

CAD modeling, biomodeling, marp, MRI, rapid tooling, electron beam melting, CT, mass customization, rapid prototyping, reverse engineering, image processing, knee implants, canine implants

Citation

Degree

MS

Discipline

Industrial Engineering

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