Development of the endoprosthesis of the femur according to the characteristics of a specific patient with using modern methods for product design and rapid prototyping

Abstract

Arthroplasty of the hip joint is one of the most widely implemented endoprothetical aids in humans. Each year, around 800,000 operations such this are done in the world. The main factors influencing the success of the surgery are the operative procedure, the degree of adaptation elements of prosthesis to the patients, and its mechanical properties. Due to the large number of influencing factors, the best results are achieved by the development of prostheses tailored to the patient. The custom-made development of the endoprosthesis body includes four group activities as follows: data acquisition from diagnostic images and the reconstruction of the morphology of the affected elements of the skeletal system, definition of a computer model for a hip endoprosthesis, verification using the appropriate computer analysis and production of physical prototypes by applying of rapid prototyping methods. This paper describes the specific activities in the development of hip endoprosthesis specifying their advantages and limitations. The presented results are the part of the research on development of the custom made endoprostheses at the Faculty of technical sciences.