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How Stryker is using 3D printing to advance orthopedics

Orthopedic device giant Stryker uses additive manufacturing to make porous geometries that wouldn’t otherwise be possible

DeviceTalks

3D printing, also called additive manufacturing, provides the ability to create new products and designs that are incredibly complex and hard to machine. For 20 years, Stryker has been on a journey to use additive manufacturing specifically to produce complex orthopedic implants. As a result, the company has made great strides when it comes to the way that orthopedic implants are designed and produced.

On a recent episode of our DeviceTalks Tuesdays webinar — sponsored by GE Additive, Foster, and Siemens — Stryker executive Naomi Murray detailed the company’s two-decade additive manufacturing journey. Murray, the company’s director of advanced operations for additive technology, described how innovations utilizing 3D printing make healthcare better.

Go to our sister site Medical Design & Outsourcing to read four takeaw…

How Stryker is using 3D printing to advance orthopedics

Orthopedic device giant Stryker uses additive manufacturing to make porous geometries that wouldn’t otherwise be possible

DeviceTalks

3D printing, also called additive manufacturing, provides the ability to create new products and designs that are incredibly complex and hard to machine. For 20 years, Stryker has been on a journey to use additive manufacturing specifically to produce complex orthopedic implants. As a result, the company has made great strides when it comes to the way that orthopedic implants are designed and produced.

On a recent episode of our DeviceTalks Tuesdays webinar — sponsored by GE Additive, Foster, and Siemens — Stryker executive Naomi Murray detailed the company’s two-decade additive manufacturing journey. Murray, the company’s director of advanced operations for additive technology, described how innovations utilizing 3D printing make healthcare better.

Here are four takeaways on how additive manufacturing is advancing orthope…

Reimagining the knee joint with electron beam melting and connected wearables

Italian medical implant manufacturer Rejoint is reimagining the knee joint using electron beam melting (EBM) and IoT-connected, sensorized wearables.

(Image courtesy of Rejoint)

The global market for total knee replacement procedures was valued at over $9 billion in 2019 and is expected to grow at over 4.5% CAGR up to 2026, according to a report by Global Market Insights.

Until recently, the knee arthroplasty market consisted solely of standard prosthetic systems, with a limited range of sizes available. Correct and precise sizing and positioning are critical factors for the success of this type of intervention, which is now clinically routine, but still variable in terms of success.

Knee joints have to withstand point loads that can reach levels of over 300 kilograms. Even minimal dimensional changes between the patient’s bone elements and an implant can cause pain and inflammation. For the p…

Diagnostic imaging plus additive manufacturing yields custom implants

Combining diagnostic imaging technologies with the design freedom of additive manufacturing has opened up new opportunities in prosthetics, enabling custom patient devices and improving the effectiveness of diagnosis, planning, surgery and clinical outcomes.

This osteoinductive material may eliminate negative effects related to current bone fillers, such as cements and bio-cements. (Image courtesy of GE Additive)

Surgeons mainly use custom implants when bone geometry is not within the dimensional range of standard implants, when there are special requirements due to disease, or simply when a tailor-made solution enables a better clinical result.

For the successful use of the custom prostheses, inter-professional cooperation and communication between the orthopedic surgeon and the implant designer are key. The implant designer may not be familiar with anatomopathological, epidemiological, surgical or …