In a breakthrough collaborative project, a team of experts from Tel Aviv Medical Center, PTC, and Hexagon has created a breakthrough fully customized scapula implant for a 16-year-old cancer patient. The team utilized state-of-the-art additive manufacturing and medical imaging to design and produce a titanium scapula implant tailored precisely to the patient’s anatomy.
The experts conducted a 3D segmentation of the tumor and surrounding bone to facilitate effective reconstruction. A digital twin of the anatomical model was created and printed at a 1:1 scale to assist in preoperative planning and to delineate the resection margins. Concurrently, an advanced custom 3D-printed implant was designed using PTC Creo software to provide anchorage for the remaining muscle stumps and to reconstruct the glenohumeral and acromioclavicular joints.
The surgery proceeded as planned, the personalized implant fit seamlessly, and the patient began regaining mobility within a few days.
Essential requirements and challenges for the implant design included:
- Preservation of the patient’s original anatomical volume, shape, and kinematics.
- Optimization of the implant’s mechanical properties while minimizing weight.
- Provision of an optimal set of anchoring points for muscle attachment.
- Implementation of an advanced lattice structure to facilitate the ingrowth of connective tissue and muscles, leveraging Creo Design for Metal Additive Manufacturing to minimize supports and distortion.
- Introduction of minimal surfaces to ensure smooth joint kinematics.
- Utilization of advanced mechanical simulations to verify the load-bearing capacity of the implant for shoulder and arm movements.
- Ensuring the manufacturability and reducing print trials of the implant, harnessing Hexagon’s Simufact Additive to simulate and compensate the thermo-mechanical processes that distort parts as they are printed.
- Verifying successful print quality for certification, leveraging Hexagon’s VGSTUDIO MAX to process the CT scan data and verify the quality of the complex structure and the printed metal’s properties.
A New Era in Personalized Medicine
The integration of digital twins, CAD, PLM, and certification technologies paves the way for future advancements in custom medical devices. The collaboration between Tel Aviv Medical Center, PTC and Hexagon marks a new milestone where engineering technology meets personalized healthcare.
“Bioactive printed implants are the future of implants! The development of complex implantable printed materials, together with powerful additive manufacturing and simulation software, enables us to introduce smart implants to the surgical world. These implants interact with tissues to optimize their survival in the body, ensuring a perfect fit and promoting tissue growth,” said Dr. Solomon Dadia, Head of the Surgical Innovation and 3D Printing Unit, Tel Aviv Sourasky Medical Center. “These advancements mark a new era in personalized medicine.”
About the Collaborators
- Tel Aviv Medical Center leads the way in patient-centered care, pioneering new medical techniques.
- PTC specializes in digital transformation, enabling engineering innovation through its Creo software.
- Hexagon drives advanced digital manufacturing solutions, ensuring the safe certification of medical implants through manufacturing process optimization, validation and quality assurance.
