3D printing technology is driving the reform of the medical and health industry. Titanium and titanium alloys, as excellent biomedical materials, are developing at an alarming rate. The combination of the two will boost personalized medicine to shine.
Titanium is not only strong, light, but also has good biocompatibility and corrosion resistance, so it is very suitable for manufacturing medical implants. It is also an ideal metal 3D printing material. Nitinol has a shape memory effect, which broadens the application prospects of titanium alloys in the field of biomedical materials.
The personalized needs and high value-added features of medical treatment are very consistent with the characteristics of 3D printing, making this field one of the most suitable areas for 3D printing technology. The demand for medical grade titanium powder and nickel-titanium alloy powder is increasing day by day.
Titanium and titanium alloys have a wide range of applications. This article mainly introduces their applications in biomedical applications.
The shape memory recovery temperature of medical nickel-titanium shape memory alloy is 36±2℃, which is in line with the temperature of human body and shows clinically equivalent biocompatibility with titanium alloy. However, due to the nickel-titanium memory alloy containing a large amount of nickel, if the surface treatment is improper, the nickel ions in it may diffuse and penetrate the surrounding tissues, causing cell and tissue necrosis.
At present, surface modification of titanium alloys that have been developed to inhibit the release of toxic elements and enhance the biocompatibility and mechanical properties of the alloys to meet the standards used in the biomedical field has become a new research focus.
Research in recent years has mainly focused on physical modification methods, chemical modification methods and biochemical methods. Physical modification methods include plasma spraying method, ion implantation method, vapor deposition method, diamond-like carbon film plating method, laser cladding method, etc. Chemical modification methods include acid-base treatment method, micro-arc oxidation method, sol-gel method, Hydrothermal method, etc., biochemical methods include biomimetic solution growth method, self-assembly method, etc.
Market size forecast
SmarTech, an expert in the field of additive manufacturing, released a report on the analysis and forecast of the additive manufacturing market of titanium. The report shows that the shipment of titanium powder in the additive manufacturing market increased by 32% in 2018. It is expected that the revenue of titanium alloys will increase in 2019. An increase of 24%.
Application field
Biomedicine: Dentures, prostheses, heart stents, orthopedic restorations, orthopedic implants…
Dental implants:
You only need to scan the oral cavity to get the accurate data of dentures. More than 200 dentures of different shapes can be printed at the same time. It only takes 8 hours to complete the printing. The printing cost of each denture is about 150 yuan. Compared with traditional custom dentures, 3D printed custom dentures are faster and cheaper.
Medical stent:
Using 3D printing technology to prepare electroactive materials into biomedical scaffolds, and then realize controllable and optimized growth of cells and tissues on this scaffold, and finally obtain new products or new technologies with biological functions for medical applications Testing, diagnosis and treatment.
Organ model:
It has a high degree of simulation and good biocompatibility, suitable for academic research and soft tissue or hard tissue repair of animal models.
Bone repair:
Use 3D printing technology to print out the missing bones with titanium powder, and then print out facial tissues with biomedical carbon fiber materials, and finally print them out for the patient
A perfect fake face. The development of 3D printing technology will show great advantages for the preparation of human organs with complex spaces and multiple biological functions.