Stress shielding mitigation by metamaterial implants: Photoelasticity test of clinically relevant designs

Does the material of an implant contribute to stress shielding in reconstructed bones, or is stress shielding driven mainly by loads transferred through fixation screws? Can the replacement of solid parts in an implant with porous metamaterials effectively reduce stress shielding despite the presence of the screws? We propose a photoelasticity approach to answer these questions directly and illustrate it on conventional (solid) and metamaterial (porous) personalized mandibular implants with identical screws.