FDM-sourced Shinbone Cutting Guide in Polylactic acid-based Polymers: Heat Sterilization Effects on Part Quality

Software for image analysis endorsed further developments in the medical area that would accept state of the art reengineering processes to reproduce actual internal organs and structures of the human body. Previous research on FDM produced elements in the medicine field shown important discoveries on orthopedics. Preoperative planning shown to be suitable for additive manufacturing solutions that could help to improve the efficiency on procedures lowering potential risks after surgery. Accurate and well thought planning is necessary to choose the best way for the practice and deliver the best results. Tooling customization has shown to help into achieving this result. Bone-related surgeries require customized cutting guides for better accuracy. The following work aims to deliver the opportunity to use variations of Polylactic acid (PLA) based cutting guides in actual surgery practices by means of sustaining a regular heat-sterilization procedure without compromising its tailor-made characteristics. This would be possible by means of a proved, reliable procedure for obtaining the prototype from traditional CT scan images. As a result, HTPLA material composition and crystallization properties allowed to sustain a sterilization procedure in a way that does not compromise the reliability of the part, nor the safety of the procedure, so prototypes made with a similar process as the proposed one, can be used in actual surgery practices with safety.