Medical

Thanks to intensive cooperation with users of previous bone substitute ceramics, Lithoz developed the new LithaBone HA 480. 3D-printed parts made of hydroxyapatite are outstandingly resorbable, and thanks to important improvements they are ideally suited for bone replacement in the medical field:

- Significantly improved mechanical stability for dimensionally stable bone replacements

- Significantly increased geometric flexibility

- Significantly higher wall thicknesses of up to 10 mm

- 10-fold longer shelf-life

This unique material found its way from the aerospace industry to the medical industry due to its high strength, good biocompatibility and osseointegrative properties. Furthermore, silicon nitride shows antibacterial properties and as such can reduce the infection risk and thus periimplantitis.
Silicon nitride is used in the medical industry for orthopedic applications e.g. spinal fusion surgery.

The intracardiac pump made of bioinert aluminum oxide supplies the heart with blood after a heart attack or heart surgery. The application was developed by TU Wien and the Medical University of Vienna.

The alumina material used, LithaLox HP 500, is characterized by high mechanical strength and wear resistance as well as low surface roughness (Ra = 0.4 µm). This can reduce the formation of blood clots. The pump is driven by helium and ensures blood supply during the healing phase without electric current, which should prevent thermal damage to the surrounding tissue.

Bioinert high-performance ceramics with perfect surface quality can, for example, minimize cell interaction on components with direct blood contact and prevent blood clotting.

A car accident resulting in a craniocerebral trauma might result in the need of pressure relief surgery (trepanation) to save the patient’s life. The cranial bone area removed must be replaced:

3D printing offers the possibility to produce patient-specific bioresorbable implants for faster healing. Furthermore, 3D printing allows the creation of an interconnected pore network where the size and shape of pores can be specifically designed to best support the healing process. Cells can enter these pores and form new blood vessels, subsequently encouraging resorption of the implant and the regeneration of native bone tissue. All this can be done without harming any animals as the materials are of non-animal sources and thus are vegan.

This interconnected pore network for optimized cell ingrowth was printed using LithaBone HA 400 (hydroxyapatite), which was specially developed for medical applications.

With Lithoz's LCM technology, ceramic scaffolds can be created which replicate the complex structure of trabecular bone. This makes these implants lightweight and yet still mechanically resilient. They degrade in the body during healing and are replaced by the body's own bone over time. The supply of blood vessels accelerates the healing process - nutrients can reach the new cells, and metabolic products can be removed and excreted. 

By means of LCM, implants with highly precise and reproducible macroporosities can be produced and equipped with a defined surface texture, which decisively improves the cell adhesion of the osteoblasts.