With 3D printer techology, one researcher has discovered a new artificial bone design that can be customized and made for stronger bone replacements.

Hossein Montazerian, research assistant with UBCO香蕉视频直播檚 school of engineering, has identified a way to model and create artificial bone grafts that can be custom printed.

Montazerian said human bones are incredibly resilient, but when things go wrong, replacing them can be a painful process, requiring multiple surgeries.

香蕉视频直播淲hen designing artificial bone scaffolds it香蕉视频直播檚 a fine balance between something that is porous enough to mix with natural bone and connective tissue, but at the same time strong enough for patients to lead a normal life,香蕉视频直播� he said. 香蕉视频直播淲e香蕉视频直播檝e identified a design that strikes that balance and can be custom built using a 3D printer.香蕉视频直播�

Traditional bone grafting is used in medicine to treat anything from traumatic fractures to defects and requires moving bone from one part of the body to another.

But Montazerian said his artificial bone grafts could be custom printed to potentially fit any patient and wouldn香蕉视频直播檛 require transplanting existing bone fragments.

In his research, Montazerian analyzed 240 different bone graft designs and focused on just the ones that were both porous and strong. He printed those that performed the best using a 3D printer and then ran physical tests to determine how effective they would be under load in the real world.

香蕉视频直播淎 few of the structures really stood out,香蕉视频直播� he said. 香蕉视频直播淭he best designs were up to 10 times stronger than the others and since they have properties that are much more similar to natural bone, they香蕉视频直播檙e less likely to cause problems over the long term.香蕉视频直播�

Montazerian and his collaborators are working on the next generation of designs that will use a mix of two or more structures.

香蕉视频直播淲e hope to produce bone grafts that will be ultra-porous, where the bone and connective tissues meet and are extra-strong at the points under the most stress. The ultimate goal is to produce a replacement that almost perfectly mimics real bone.香蕉视频直播�

While his bone graft designs are well on their way, Montazerian says the technology still needs some advances before it can be used clinically. For example, he said other researchers in the field are starting to refine biomaterials that won香蕉视频直播檛 be rejected by the body and that can be printed with the very fine 3D details that his designs require.

香蕉视频直播淭his solution has enormous potential and the next step will be to test how our designs behave in real biological systems,香蕉视频直播� he said. 香蕉视频直播淚 hope to see this kind of technology clinically implemented for real patients in the near future.香蕉视频直播�

Montazerian香蕉视频直播檚 research was recently published in .