We just kicked off the iMPLANTS-CM project (Printing metamaterials using shape memory alloys and functional gradients for a new generation of smart implants) in collaboration with the Technical University of Madrid. The project aims to design and manufacture active implants capable of modifying their geometry to enhance minimally invasive surgeries and improve the patients’ healing processes.

This project, funded by the Madrid regional government, uses 3D and 4D printing with innovative materials (“smart” Ni-Ti alloys and special geometries that enhance their metamorphic capabilities) to design and manufacture these novel implants.

“iMPLANTS-CM will reinvent medical 4D printing, thanks to the design and use of high-performance alloys, both mechanical and biological, and with unprecedented shape-changing capabilities,” explains Jon Molina (co-principal investigator of the project). In short, this project will make it possible to enable geometric modifications that accompany the healing and growth processes of patients.

Source: UPM

More info at infosalus