Custom hip prostheses by integrating CAD and casting technology

Total Hip Arthroplasty (THA) is a surgical intervention that is being achieving high rates of success, leaving room to research on long run durability, patient comfort and costs reduction. Even so, up to the present, little research has been done to improve the method of manufacturing customized prosthesis. The common customized prostheses are made by full machining. This document presents a different approach methodology which combines the study of medical images, through CAD (Computer Aided Design) software, SLadditive manufacturing, ceramic shell manufacture, precision foundry with Titanium alloys and Computer Aided Manufacturing (CAM). The goal is to achieve the best comfort for the patient, stress distribution and the maximum lifetime of the prosthesis produced by this integrated methodology. The way to achieve this desiderate is to make custom hip prosthesis which are adapted to each patient needs and natural physiognomy. Not only the process is reliable, but also represents a cost reduction compari...