On 3D printed novel stifle prosthesis for canines

Abstract

In the past, several studies have been reported on the use of 3D-printed stifle prostheses (SP) to address patella luxation (PL) issues in canines. However, little has been reported on the characterization of 3D-printed novel SP prepared by the assembly of components (fabricated by powder bed fusion (PBF) and material extrusion (MEX process) for better service life. This study highlights the plastic strain deformation (observed as 0 at 600N load), followed by fatigue testing (observed as safe for 106 cycles of loading) through finite element analysis (FEA) of the 3D printed implant assembly of SP (using 17-4 precipitate hardened (PH) stainless steel (SS) and polylactic acid (PLA) material) for addressing PL issues (for all ages/ breeds of canine). Further, the 3D-printed functional prototypes were subjected to morphological, thermal, wear, and in vitro characterization to ascertain their use as SP. The result of the study suggests that SP prepared by the proposed methodology has acceptable mechanical properties (with a factor of safety ≈14) for its use as a commercial solution.