Feasibility Study of the Cranial Implant Fabricated without Supports in Electron Beam Melting

Abstract

Additive manufacturing (AM), particularly electron beam melting (EBM), is becoming increasingly common in the medical industry because of its remarkable benefits. The application of personalized titanium alloy implants produced using EBM has received considerable attention in recent times due to their simplicity and efficacy. However, these tailored implants are not cost-effective, placing a tremendous strain on the patient. The use of additional materials as support during the manufacturing process is one of the key causes of its high cost. A lot of research has been done to lessen the use of supports through various types of support designs. There is indeed a noticeable paucity of studies in the literature that have examined customized implants produced without or minimal supports. This research, therefore, reports on the investigation of cranial implants fabricated with and without supports. The two personalized implants are evaluated in terms of their cost, fabrication time, and accuracy. The study showed impressive results for cranial implants manufactured without supports that cost 39% less than the implants with supports. Similarly, the implant’s (without supports) build time was 18% less than its equivalent with supports. The two implants also demonstrated similar fitting accuracy with 0.2613 mm error in the instance of implant built without supports and 0.2544 mm for the implant with supports. The results indicate that cranial implants can be produced without EBM supports, which can minimize both production time and cost substantially. However, the manufacture of other complex implants without supports needs further study. The future study also requires a detailed review of the mechanical and structural characteristics of cranial implants built without supports.