3D printing tantalum medical metal materials
Release time:
2024-08-01
Basic properties of tantalum
Tantalum metal is silvery white with a density of 16.654g/cm3, and its high density is related to the relative atomic mass, atomic radius and atomic volume. The relative atomic mass of tantalum atoms is about 180.95, the atomic volume is 10.9cm/mol, the atomic radius is 0.146 nm, and the relative atomic mass per unit atomic volume is large, so its density is high. Tantalum has a body-centered cubic lattice structure, closely arranged between atoms, and more slip systems, so the extension performance of tantalum is better. The bonding energy of the metal bond between tantalum atoms is large, and the energy required to destroy the metal bond is large, resulting in its melting point as high as 2997°C. In addition, tantalum has a low expansion coefficient, about 7 × 10-6 ℃-1, which is lower than common metals such as gold, silver, aluminum, copper and iron.
Application of Tantalum in Medical Field
The potential of tantalum in the medical field has received much attention. Figure 2(d) is a medical tantalum titanium composite material, tantalum as a coating can improve the biocompatibility of the alloy. However, there are differences in the characteristics of the coating and the substrate material, the surface modification coating usually exhibits poor bond strength, and the coating is easily damaged during use to limit its effect. In the medical industry, the use of tantalum as the main raw material, that is, the preparation of all tantalum bone implant devices, is an effective way to overcome the above shortcomings. However, due to the high melting point of tantalum and the characteristics of oxygen affinity, the use of traditional x-work method processing difficulty, production efficiency and material utilization rate is low, greatly improve the preparation cost of tantalum implant equipment, increase the burden of patients, so there is an urgent need for a new process to achieve the full tantalum bone implant equipment efficient and accurate forming.
3D printing tantalum
3D printing is a new processing method. The most significant feature of this technology is that it can directly form the final three-dimensional sample according to the imported workpiece model. Laser powder melting technology (Laser Powder Bed Fusion, LPBF) and electron beam powder melting technology (Electron Beam Melting, EBM) in 3D printing are often used to process tantalum implant devices. The LPBF processing diagram is shown in Figure 3. LPBF processing equipment has three chambers, namely powder bin, forming bin and recovery bin. Before printing, metal powder should be added to the powder bin in advance. During processing, the powder is evenly spread in the forming bin by a scraper, and then melted and heated by laser or electron beam to solidify into a preset shape. The powder bin rises layer by layer, the forming bin descends layer by layer, and the final forming is added layer by layer.
3D Printing Medical Tantalum Implant Case
With the continuous progress of medical standards and the implementation of "Made in China 2025", the new preparation process represented by additive manufacturing has promoted the vigorous development of China's orthopedic implant market. Since 2015, China has become the second largest consumer of bone implants in the world. At present, bone implant products can be divided into spinal, joint and trauma categories according to the use scenario, of which the commercialization of acetabular cups (joint implants) and intervertebral fusion (spinal implants) is the fastest. Bone implant manufacturing materials include metals, ceramics, polymers and carbonaceous materials, among which tantalum, as a member of metal bone implants, has great potential for development.
Spine products
Joint products
In 2022, Zhongshan Hospital of Dalian University performed the world's first 3D printed tantalum metal ankle joint implant for patients (Figure 9)[24]. Patients with ankle talonecrosis and suffering from ankle inflammation, in order to solve the patient's pain symptoms and restore ankle flexibility, the hospital for patients with personalized customized 3D printing metal tantalum ankle. The patient recovered well after implantation and was able to walk slowly one day after surgery.
Pelvic surgery has always been one of the difficult problems in orthopedic surgery. In 2022, Zhongshan Hospital affiliated to Dalian University performed 3D printed tantalum semi-pelvis and hip prosthesis implantation for patients with right hip joint deformation caused by pelvic tumor (Figure 10(a)), further broadening the application of 3D printed porous tantalum. This patient has a large damaged area and requires resection of the ilium, acetabulum, and some or all of the pubic and ischium, making resection and implantation difficult. The implant customized for the patient by 3D printing is highly matched with the defect site after resection (Figure 10 (B)), which saves the implantation operation time.
Trauma products
In April 2019, a 3D printed trabecular tantalum stent developed by Xiangya Hospital was successfully implanted in a patient with femoral osteonecrosis, the world's first tantalum metal stent implantation (Figure 11)[26]. The contact between the top of the tantalum stent and the human bone is arc-shaped, which is similar to the curvature of the human bone. When stressed, the stent has many contact points with the human bone, and the pressure is relatively even, which can prevent the implant from being damaged.
3D printing tantalum powder-Stardust Technology
About Stardust Technology
Stardust Technology (Guangdong) Co., Ltd. is a national high-tech enterprise specializing in the research and development, production and sales of high-end spherical powder materials in the fields of 3D printing, powder metallurgy, surface engineering, etc. Companies adhere to the RF plasma spheroidizing powder technology as the core, to provide international advanced powder products and application solutions.
Medical Grade Spherical Tantalum Powder
The spherical tantalum powder produced by Stardust Technology using radio frequency plasma spheroidization technology is widely used in 3D printing of clinical medical implants such as spine, joint and trauma due to its excellent biocompatibility and bone growth characteristics. Stardust Technology took the lead in realizing the industrialization breakthrough of medical grade spherical tantalum powder in China, and jointly promoted the clinical medical application of tantalum metal with domestic first-class orthopedic hospitals and medical device companies, he has participated in the formulation of GB/T 38975-2020 tantalum and tantalum alloy powder for additive manufacturing, GB/T 41883-2022 powder bed melting additive manufacturing tantalum and combined gold related national standards, YY/T1851-2022 medical pure tantalum powder industry standard for additive manufacturing, T/CAMDI065-2021 additive manufacturing tantalum metal knee joint prosthesis, T/CAMDI 066-2021 additive manufacturing tantalum metal individualized bone defect filler "and other groups. Standard 3 items, to assist in the clinical application of tantalum metal more than 500 cases, implant prosthesis including tantalum metal intervertebral fusion bone pad, hip joint, shoulder joint, knee joint, ankle joint, etc.
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Paper Citation Information:
Yang Zhenyu, Zhu Jiangqi, Yan Xingchen. 3D Printing Tantalum Medical Metal Materials [J]. Metal World, 2023 (6): 16-23. DOI: 10.3969/J. ISSN.1000 -6826.2023.10.0885
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