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Orthopaedic trauma is a predominant cause of patient mortality and prompt surgical interventions. The locking compression plate (LCP) is widely regarded as a gold standard in treating bone fractures. However, current fixation materials, such as 316 L stainless steel (316 L SS) and titanium (Ti) alloys induce stress shielding. A novel design approach is considered to design the next generation of bone plates to minimize stress shielding through design for additive manufacturing principles. Embedding of 316 L SS sheets within the bone plate structure has improved the mechanical properties by 200% compared with PLA-only plate, resulting in a flexural modulus of 9.3 GPa, which is closer to the cortical bone range of 10–25 GPa. In contrast, commercial plates measured 51 GPa for Ti and 112 GPa for 316 L SS. The novel plates showed to have a lower economic and environmental impact than commercial ones. Additively manufactured bone plates are more sustainable and cost-effective than current commercial ones.
Al-Tamimi et al. (Tue,) studied this question.