Patient-specific orthopedic implants manufactured by additive manufacturing - A corrosion study

The increase in the world population and aging has resulted in a significant growth of orthopedic implant surgeries. Hip and knee replacement surgeries are one of the most common surgeries in the older population. Most of the joint replacements, implants, and bone plates are generic, mass-produced components, which may not always be compatible with patients having a specific or unusual anatomy. In these situations, custom designed implant components are required. Additive manufacturing finds its potential utilization for the manufacture of human bone implants. However, the deep understanding of mechanical, corrosion, and fatigue properties of additive manufactured implants is still lacking. The main objective of present research is to investigate the optimum part properties for two different additive manufacturing processes, selective laser melting (SLM) and electron beam melting (EBM), for their application to medical implants. The two processes were investigated regarding their effect on microstructure and corrosion behavior for biocompatible TiAl6V4 alloy.