3D Printing of Patient-Specific Implants That Aid in Healing

MAXONIQ

May 2021

Additive manufacturing is revolutionizing the medical industry by allowing bespoke medical solution provider MAXONIQ to design and manufacture custom medical devices that are both efficient and cost-effective for the patient.

MAXONIQ’s OsseoFrame is a versatile, easy to install, dependable and accurate solution for dental prosthetic rehabilitation. The subperiosteal jaw implant is particularly well suited to patients who lack sufficient alveolar bone to support conventional dental implants. These implants avoid the need for complex adjunctive procedures such as on-lay bone grafts, expensive barrier membranes, sinus lift surgery or intrusive zygomaticus implants.

Designed and custom-made to simplify the entire dental rehabilitation process, the subperiosteal jaw implant is ideal for edentulous patients who do not have enough jaw bone to support dental implants. It helps to restore the function and esthetics of the patient’s teeth, ultimately providing pain-free function and improving the patient’s quality of life.

Challenge

MAXONIQ specializes in the design and manufacture of world-class custom oral and maxillofacial surgical devices.

The custom design requirements of the OsseoFrame, such as the need for unique shapes, sizes and materials, make it difficult to be cost-effectively manufactured with a traditional approach. While the OsseoFrame could certainly utilize other traditional manufacturing methods, such as CNC milling or cast pouring, this would result in greater amounts of material waste than additive manufacturing and would require more complex post-processing, such as surface treatments and heat treatment.

Traditional manufacturing methods are complex and often require extensive and costly post-processing procedures, resulting in higher waste, additional cost and longer manufacturing leadtimes.

MAXONIQ has adopted additive manufacturing to disrupt the traditional rigid medical manufacturing supply chain. Through the use of EOS M 290 additive manufacturing system and EOS Titanium Ti64 material, MAXONIQ seeks to provide reliable and unique one-of-a-kind devices to treat complex indications.

Solution

MAXONIQ decided to use EOS M 290 manufacturing systems with the support of their manufacturer partner, BresMedical Pty. Ltd.

BresMedical was one of the few manufacturing bureaus in Australia capable of reaching the level of quality required by MAXONIQ, both in terms of part quality and compliance with the ISO 13485 standard.

By taking advantage of Bres-Medical’s additive manufacturing expertise, MAXONIQ have the ability to produce cost-effective, custom-fit OsseoFrame at manufacturing lot sizes of just one unique piece per customer order.

 

Results

Additive manufacturing has allowed the streamlining of the design process and the prosthetic component to provide a very simple and elegant solution straight to the patient whilst minimizing the time for all specialists involved, including surgeons, prosthodontists, and prosthetists. It generates less waste than other manufacturing methods and is less costly per production order due to the lower volume requirements.

Technical success was defined by the finished product matching the initial patient-specific CAD design. Successful surgical implantation is the ultimate determining factor of success with shorter surgery time and faster patient recovery.