Biomimetic design of implants for long bone critical-sized defects

This computational study addresses new biomimetic load-bearing implants designed to treat long bone critical-sized defects in a proximal diaphysis region. The design encompasses two strategies: a Haversian bone-mimicking approach for cortical bone and lattices based on triply periodic minimal surfaces (TPMS) for trabecular bone. Compression tests are modeled computationally via a non-linear finite element analysis with Ti6Al4V alloy as a base material. Nine topologies resembling cortical bone are generated as hollow cylinders with different channel arrangements simulating Haversian (longitudinal) and Volkmann (transverse) canals to achieve properties like those of a human cortical bone (Strategy I). Then, the selected optimal structure from Strategy I is merged with the trabecular bone part represented by four types of TPMS-based lattices (Diamond, Primitive, Split-P, and Gyroid) with the same relative density to imitate the whole bone structure. The Strategy I resulted in finding a hollow cylinder including Haversian and Volkmann canals, optimized in canals number, shape, and orientation to achieve mechanical behavior close to human cortical bone. The surface area and volume created by such canals have the maximum values among all studied combinations of transverse and longitudinal channels. Strategy II reveals the effect of interior design on the load-bearing capacity of the whole component. Between four types of selected TPMS, Diamond-based lattice and Split-P have more uniform stress distribution, resulting in a superior load-bearing efficiency than Gyroid and Primitive-based design showing less uniformity. This work offers a new design of the bone-mimicking implant, with cortical and trabecular bone components, to repair long bone critical-sized defects.