Craniomaxillofacial defects (congenital or acquired) of the face, skull and jaw, are severely debilitating, where the patient not only suffers physically but also psychologically. Craniofacial conditions are often complex, affecting both soft tissue and the bones of the face and/or the head. Currently, non-resorbable implants are being used to address craniofacial defects where a second operation is routinely required to remove these devices with limited patient-specific customisation, that may lead to stress-shielding, long-term erosion, infection or lack of growth, particularly in vulnerable paediatric population.
The AMBIT project allowed us to go one step closer to the realisation of customised Biodegradable Magnesium Implants for craniomaxillofacial applications to overcome the limitations of current clinical gold-standard non-resorbable Titanium (Ti)-based implants. Potential use of low temperature additive manufacturing (AM) technology is investigated for processing patient specific Mg-based implants. Further advancement of clinical implementation and use of patient specific Mg-based biodegradable implants will not only improve the post-operation experiences and lives of craniofacial implant recipients but ultimately decrease the cost burden on national health systems.
Through AMBIT, new bioresorbable Mg alloys that are more suitable to process via low temperature AM technology were developed. High-quality FDM-compatible 3D-printing filaments containing Mg powder that are not currently available commercially were designed and processed. Preliminary experiments for the demonstration of translational capacity in exemplar craniofacial implant applications was demonstrated.
