Optimal design of triply-periodic minimal surface implants for bone repair

Abstract

This work proposes a gradient-based method to design bone implants using triply-periodic minimal surfaces (TPMS) of spatially varying thickness to maximize bone in-growth. Bone growth into the implant is estimated using a finite element based mechanobiological model considering the magnitude and frequency of in vivo loads, as well as the density distribution of the surrounding bone. The wall thicknesses of the implant unit cells are determined via linear interpolation of the thicknesses over a user defined grid of control points, avoiding mesh dependency and providing control over the sensitivity computation costs. The TPMS structure is modeled as a homogenized material to reduce computational cost. Local properties of the implant are determined at run-time on an element-by-element basis using a pre-constructed surrogate model of the TPMS's physical and geometric properties as a function of the local wall thickness and the density of in-grown bone. Design sensitivities of the bone growth within the implant are computed using the direct sensitivity method. The methodology is demonstrated on a cementless hip, optimizing the implant for bone growth subject to wall thickness constraints to ensure manufacturability and allow cell infiltration.