Material Aspects of Additively Manufactured Orthopedic Implants of Titanium Alloys

Additive manufacturing, or three-dimensional printing technologies, for biomedical applications is rather different from other engineering components, particularly for biomedical implants that are intended to be used within the human body. This article contains two sections: "Design and Manufacturing Considerations of 3D-Printed, Commercially Pure Titanium and Titanium Alloy-Based Orthopedic Implants" and "Device Testing Considerations Following FDA Guidance" for additive-manufactured medical devices. These are further subdivided into five major focus areas: materials; design, printing, printing characteristics and parameters as well as postprinting validation; removal of the many manufacturing material residues and sterilization; physical, chemical, and mechanical assessments of the final devices; and biological considerations of all the final devices including biocompatibility.