Design and fabrication of custom titanium implant scaffolds produced by selective laser melting (ARC Discovery Project administered by The University of Western Australia) (2008-2010)

The aim of this project is develop the science which will underpin a new generation of bone implants with key biomechanical properties much closter to those of real bone and which can be individually tailored for each patient's needs. this requires concurrent advances in both mathematics and materials science. We will develop methods of designing optimal micro-scale porous 3D scaffolds by deriving mathematical algorithms for selecting the location of pores in the implant in order to optimize strength and biocompatibility. The scaffolds will be fabricated using selective laser melting, an advanced freeform fabrication technology, using titanium alloys that have been judiciously selected to fulfil the property requirements of the implants.