Abstract
Additive Manufacturing (AM) is rapidly becoming a common practice within the medical industry. Used for applications such as tools and devices, custom implants, scaffolds or even organ printing, AM technologies have already started to improve medical practice, patient care management and treatment outcomes. The authors developed a concept for a custom intervertebral fixing implant starting with the medical data of a specific patient. The proposed bespoke implant replicates identically the anatomical features and caters to particular conditions of the patient in cause. The implant was designed in correspondence with the cervical spine using specialised medical software. Several triangle based analyses were used in order to evaluate the adequacy of the *.STL files before 3D printing. Film Transfer Imaging technology was used to manufacture both the anatomical model of the cervical spine and the bespoke spinal implant concept. The parts were presented to surgical specialists for through fitting evaluation and testing. Feedback and recommendations were given in terms of additional support and fixing. Surgical procedure tests were recommended on an explanted animal cervical spine.
Keywords: bespoke spinal implant; medical data processing; *.STL evaluation; medical software simulations; additive manufacturing