A Novel Manufacturing Route for Fabrication of Topologically‐Ordered Porous Magnesium Scaffolds

Abstract

AbstractThe use of porous metal foams as biomaterial scaffolds has been widely adopted; however, many of these porous structures are manufactured with pore architectures that are inherently random. This makes structural optimization for a specific purpose challenging. Scaffolds containing ordered pore architectures can be fabricated to meet design criteria, such as porosity, stiffness, and volume fraction. Mg and its alloys offer potential as a new class of degradable metallic orthopedic biomaterials. In comparison with current metallic orthopedic implant materials, Mg offers advantages such as, closer‐to‐bone stiffness and biodegradability, thereby eliminating the need for a second surgery to remove hardware. Currently there are few methods described in literature to manufacture ordered porous Mg. The aim of this study was to determine the resolution of a novel indirect solid free‐form fabrication (SFF) process for producing topologically ordered Mg (TOPM) structures. The multi‐step method involved the printing of an SFF mould, NaCl infiltration, and liquid Mg casting techniques. Using a range of characterization methods, we demonstrated that the selected structures were manufactured with a high level of accuracy. Differences in dimensions from CAD models to Mg scaffolds ranged from 2.5% to a maximum of 8.33%. Similarly, there was a maximum of 6.1% reduction in porosity in Mg scaffolds compared with initial design. Meanwhile, with surface roughness of 10.17 ± 1.75 µm, there was an average of 70% increase in surface area. This study demonstrates a simple, reliable, and safe route to manufacture TOPM scaffolds for potential application in medical device design.