Design and manufacture of bone implant for biomedical applications

The development of personalized bone implants represents a rapidly advancing field within biomedical engineering, combining material science, additive manufacturing, and clinical application. This study focuses on the design, material characterization, and production of a bone implant based on polylactic acid (PLA), a biodegradable and biocompatible polymer widely used in temporary orthopedic applications and bone tissue regeneration. PLA filament was produced using the Filament Maker system by 3devo. Following filament preparation, a custom bone implant was designed using CAD modeling. The implant was fabricated using fused filament fabrication (FFF), an additive manufacturing technique that allows for precise geometrical control and internal structure optimization. The study discusses key aspects of the design to manufacture process, evaluates the printability and performance of PLA filament in a biomedical context, and explores the implant's potential applications.