TPU: Implants for maxillofacial surgery

2023: Start of Use

Scientists at Tomsk Polytechnic University (TPU) and Tomsk National Research Medical Center have developed the first technology in the Russian Federation for making 3D-printer implants for maxillofacial surgery from domestic raw materials and tested it on the first patients. The press service of the university announced this on August 18, 2023.

Implants are made of fluorine-containing polymers using 3D printing according to computed tomography. The products are based on fluoropolymers of the Russian company Halopolymer (Kirovo-Chepetsk). According to the developers, fluoropolymer-based implants have a number of advantages. They are light, quickly take root in the body, are not a contraindication for radiation therapy. In addition, 3D printing technology allows you to approach each clinical case individually.

The first technology for manufacturing implants for maxillofacial surgery on a 3D printer has been developed in the Russian Federation

In the process of manufacturing the implant, we go through a full technological cycle: from the preparation of polymer powder to the quality control of the printed product. At the same time, we use not only domestic raw materials, but also domestic equipment. Traditionally, individual titanium implants are used to treat oncological pathologies in the head and neck. However, for their manufacture, as a rule, imported raw materials are used, the suppliers of which left Russia, - the words of the project manager, researcher at the Research School of Chemical and Biomedical Technologies of TPU Yevgeny Bolbasov are given in the message.

Using the Russian development, three patients of the Research Institute of Oncology of the Tomsk NIOC with malignant tumors of the maxillofacial region of 3-4 stages were operated on, in particular, with defects in the bones of the upper jaw.

The TPU report notes that the maxillofacial region is a complex anatomical zone in terms of bone walls, architectonics, so it is difficult to reconstruct it at the expense of the patient's own tissues.^[1]

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