High-performance 3D printed ceramics have the potential to unlock applications that no other material class can match. Johannes Homa and Daniel Bomze, respectively, CEO and Director of Medical Solutions atLithoz, sat down with me recently to provide insight into this exciting additive manufacturing area.
Cracking the code on a market opportunity
In 3D printing, ceramics often get overlooked, placing third after metals and polymers as a material choice. Third place in terms of current use, yet 3D-printed ceramics have the potential to become abundant. Ceramics cover cement, concrete, glass, brick, and pottery as a material class. Cement alone is the second most used material in the world. So why are 3D-printed ceramics lagging?Lagging is错误的单词,或者至少是错误的紧张,易翔ially when Lithoz can now talk about volumes in terms of millions, with one customer 3D printing over two million parts per annum. Historically through, cracking the code of producing ceramics additively has been challenging. Johannes Homa, CEO, Lithoz, explains, “you are always in a very harsh situation with ceramics. It doesn’t matter if you’re producing one or one thousand; there can be no compromise on material quality.” For a functional 3D printed ceramic, says Homa, “you need the material properties to match the end product.”
The most common ceramics use oxide materials, and the total market, while less than metals, can be quantified as in the billions of dollars range. Applications for high-performance 3D printed ceramics include machinery, electronics, space, and medicine.
I asked Homa why he believes the company is poised to capitalize on this relatively underdeveloped market opportunity. “We have the greatest installed base and the biggest market share – we have more than 50% market share. We are the technology and innovation leaders,” says the Lithoz CEO. “The only viable strategy in ceramics is to lead by quality and innovation,” says Homa. This approach is how Lithoz has grown to employ over 140 people worldwide. How will they maintain and extend this lead?
陶瓷3D打印面临着挑战：“陶瓷是很难使用的材料，几乎没有任何OEM本身都在做。合同制造商从事最高性能的工作，” Lithoz首席执行官说，“这是一个缺陷，这是没有用的。”这个困难解释了为什么要大量努力进行物质研究和开发。材料必须达到高最终密度以提供功能材料的特性。霍玛说：“这并不像98％的密度降低2％的质量，这意味着巨大的差异，可能降低了50％的力量，”这一点强调了这一点。
Ceramic bone replacement materials
转向Lithoz生产的材料，医疗解决方案总监Daniel Bomze通过骨骼替代材料的未来派世界与我交谈。在医学界，在各种情况下可能会出现替换骨骼的需求，例如，头部外伤具有脑血出血，需要切开骨骼的骨骼。在这种情况下，标准程序将是在患者头部使用金属板植入物。但是，金属是一个很好的热导体，即使热水淋浴也很痛苦。即使暴露在太阳上，有时也会导致燃烧。如果手术是在儿童上，则必须随着孩子的生长而更换金属板，从而导致更多的创伤性手术。用将重新吸收的材料代替金属植入物，使实际的骨骼重新生长似乎有利。
幸运的是，金属板植入物相对罕见，尤其是与需要医疗干预，牙齿脱落和牙齿修复的更常见的创伤相反。炸弹概述了一种牙科患者拔出牙齿的情况，可能是由于腐烂而导致的，并且该程序需要与牙齿一起去除根。在这种情况下，不可能用牙冠进行进一步维修，因为没有根部可以安装牙冠。Bomze说，在这里，存在数百万手术程序的强大案例以及实质性的市场机会。
那么Lithoz先进的陶瓷材料如何在上面概述的类似情况下起作用？Bomze说，本质上，Lithoz提供了一种与患者骨骼相同的“合成材料”。随着时间的流逝，植入的3D可打印材料或合成骨会溶解，并由患者的天然骨骼材料取代。至关重要的是，Lithoz可以与关键大小的骨缺损一起使用。
Lithoz自2017年以来一直与医生合作，“我们希望在未来几年看到更多的讨论和报告。” Lithoz医疗解决方案总监说。该公司有几种可用的骨骼替代材料。最新的是LithaboneHA480。Bomze解释说：“外科医生和从业者喜欢我们的HA 400用于脚手架的材料，但也希望大大改善壁厚，出色的生物相容性和高几何柔韧性”。在听取客户的聆听之后，Lithoz开发了Lithabone HA 480，以具有更广泛的应用程序。这些功能包括3D打印“真正的大型颅骨更换植入物”和封闭式材料可以生长的封闭表面。
In case you were wondering, HA stands for Hydroxyapatite. “Chemically speaking, it’s exactly the same material you have in the mineral fraction of your bones,” says Bomze. For the end user, this means excellent biocompatibility and, crucially, osseoconductivity. “That means when bone grows into it, it will allow the bone to grow through its pores,” elaborates Bomze. During the healing process, “first of all, blood vessels will sprout into the pain point, and from those blood vessels the cells will migrate on to the actual implant, gradually the implant will dissolve, as new bone is deposited, eventually completely replacing the implants.”
Real-world applications for 3D printed ceramics
使用3D可打印的可吸收骨骼替换材料开辟了可能性的世界。炸弹详细介绍了两个具体示例，强调了医疗陶瓷的实用性和优势。他告诉我考虑颅骨植入物，例如切除肿瘤后必要的。It’s important to use “a material that shows good osseoconductive behavior and can be shaped in the shape of the defect (patient-specific) as well as with an interconnected pore network so that blood vessels can sprout inside, and bone will grow into the implant.” Furthermore, severe brain injuries can result in swelling of the brain from bleeding, tumors, or impeded drainage. Relief of the swelling necessitates, “temporarily opening the cranium to release the pressure. Afterward, the artificial defect needs to be treated with an implant. Also, such an implant is helpful in comminuted fractures of the cranium.”
Bomze highlights several advantages of LithaBone HA 480, including greatly improved wall thickness, “it can go up to 10-12 mm, allows for stronger materials and stability during healing”, excellent biocompatibility – “a basic requirement! Must not be toxic or cause inflammation” and finally, “High flexibility in geometries, users don’t want to be limited to one indication.”
Bone replacement for critical size defects in long bones is another application where 3D printing tackles a recurrent problem. “The challenge is to bridge a critical size defect in long bones, for example, legs or arms, which usually results from trauma,” says Bomze. “Critical-sized defects that heal on their own [can] lead to pseudarthrosis. Thus, a bone replacement implant is necessary. Here the focus is again on the patient-specific design and the open porous network of the scaffold. Another important possibility is to define the angle of the two bone ends, which are critical to reconstitute and fully function again,” explains the Lithoz Director of Medical Solutions.
3D打印的陶瓷具有光明的未来，还有更多令人兴奋的应用程序。您可以阅读更多有关如何Lithoz在这里开创了3D印刷陶瓷的应用。
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特征图显示了HA480中印刷的Zygomatic植入物3D。通过Lithoz的照片。
