Fused deposition modeling in knee arthroplasty: review with the current and novel materials

By the next decade, knee arthritis will emerge as India's fourth greatest prevalent cause of physical impairment. The different conditions of joint structure and its associated maladies are due to age-related problems, gender, or disease. Today, 3D printing has shifted the whole manufacturing genre toward customization and generated interest in fabricating knee arthroplasty constituents. The metallic tibiofemoral components specific to the patient's joint condition and structure have to be fabricated, necessitating the need to fabricate plastic spacers too, in conformance with the patient's bone. These requirements restrict the mass production of standard-sized components. It has raised the need to develop advanced fabrication methods like 3D printing, to fabricate tailored components for patients' specific bone conditions. Fused deposition modeling (FDM) can provide cheaper customized parts as per patients' requirements more quickly compared to injection molding. This study includes an extensive review of the mechanical characteristics of FDM-fabricated components. The tribo-mechanical properties and importance of polymeric materials for knee spacers like UHMWPE and TPU are discussed in detail. The influence of FDM process parameters on the properties of other biocompatible materials has also been included in the study.