Custom Reconstruction Around the Knee

With rapid prototyping technique, an individual-based solution can be performed on the patient anatomy and his clinical needs. Different products can be obtained starting from custom-made prostheses and specifc instruments. 3D printing allows to design an architecture with similar mechanical characteristic of bone [8], able to induce osteointegration and decrease the stress-shielding phenomenon due to the porosity and the elasticity of trabecular titanium [9]. Moreover, rapid prototyping can be used to develop specifc instruments for each single step, minimizing the approach and bone loss, reducing the time of surgery and improving the reconstruction. The aim of our research is to develop a new customized implant for knee repair to treat wide defects that alternatively may require commercial implants such as UKA, TKA, modular prostheses or massive allograft transplantation. The idea is an hybrid prosthesis composed by a metallic frame with poly-caprolactone (PCL), a biodegradable material on the joint surface that be considered as a scaffold with similar mechanical characteristic of the implant itself in the short term, but potentially able to be substituted from the regenerative activity of the patient during time confguring a sort of biological prosthesis. This procedure allows to preserve the most bone stock possible, respecting the stability given by soft tissue (ligaments) and maintaining the articular surface on the opposite