Croom Medical has launched the TALOS platform for the additive manufacture of tantalum implants in collaboration World Superior Metals.
The businesses introduced their partnership in February, with the pair coming collectively to develop a closed-loop provide chain for 3D printable tantalum powder.
Tantalum is famend for distinctive biocompatibility, corrosion resistance and excessive normalised fatigue power, however processing challenges have prevented widespread use of the metallic in additive manufacturing. Croom and World Superior Metals aligned to handle these challenges, with their efforts yielding the TALOS platform.
TALOS, in keeping with the 2 firms, permits the manufacturing of complicated, porous, robust and light-weight tantalum constructions for medical gadgets and industrial functions. It’s now commercially out there by way of Croom Medical’s contract manufacturing providers, with the corporate set to assist prototyping and quantity manufacturing initiatives.
With exact management over tantalum printing parameters and mobile lattice construction design, Croom says engineers will be capable of tailor implant ductility, elastic modulus and power to match native bone. TALOS is claimed to realize densities as much as 99.99% and over 40% elongation, whereas decreasing fracture danger. One other characteristic of TALOS is its skill to straight print tantalum onto titanium substrates, merging titanium’s decrease density with tantalum’s ‘osteoconductive prowess.’ This hybrid method is claimed to carry potential for implants with enhanced bone fixation.
“Tantalum has lengthy been valued for its excellent biointegration, corrosion resistance, and mechanical properties,” stated Dr Shane Keaveney, R&D Supervisor at Croom Medical. “With TALOS, we unlock these intrinsic qualities, permitting exact management over implant ductility and power to intently match native bone.”
“TALOS aligns with our mission to advance manufacturing applied sciences, considerably enhancing affected person outcomes by producing implants with superior biointegration, decreasing stress shielding, and distinctive fatigue resistance. These advantages ought to decrease the speed of surgical procedure revisions, thus avoiding affected person discomfort and pointless added surgical procedure prices.”
Having launched the TALOS platform, Croom and World Superior Metals are additionally wanting past medical functions. In line with the businesses, its skill to provide near-net form parts and superior design options – resembling managed porosity zones, mobile lattices, floor textures and inside cooling or mixing channels – will current alternatives in energy technology, chemical processing and high-temperature operations.
Within the growth of TALOS, Croom and World Superior Metals have additionally positioned a concentrate on sustainability. It makes use of ethically sourced, conflict-free tantalum powder, with all left over powder being returned to World Superior Metals to be refined and reprocessed earlier than re-entering the manufacturing cycle.
