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[charlie T colton]

100,000 patients later: The 3D-printed hip is a decade old and going strong

100,000 patients later: The 3D-printed hip is a decade old and going strong - July 02, 2018


It wouldn’t be unusual for someone with a traditional hip operation to get their implant replaced after 10 to 15 years, says Maria Pettersson, an orthopedic industry specialist with Arcam. Commonly, they could stretch that to well over 20 years, she says.

Orthopedic implant makers like LimaCorporate can also customize the design of the final implant according to the patient’s and surgeon’s needs, keeping the same features of the original structure, including the complex 3-dimensional hexagonal cells on the surface.

This level of design freedom and the ability to potentially tailor implants to different patient’s necessities is why 3D printing also increasingly is being used for dental implants, hearing aids, prosthetics and even surgical tools.

Pettersson estimates that overall more than 100,000 hip cups have been made in Arcam printers and implanted in patients. There are likely hundreds of thousands more that have been made in printers from other companies.