Open Access. Powered by Scholars. Published by Universities.®

Engineering Commons

Open Access. Powered by Scholars. Published by Universities.®

Theses/Dissertations

2015

Mechanical Engineering

Design

Honors Theses

Articles 1 - 1 of 1

Full-Text Articles in Engineering

The Design Of An Optimized Patient-Specific In Vivo Spinal Fusion Cage Using Additive Manufacturing, Gorman Donnelly Jun 2015

The Design Of An Optimized Patient-Specific In Vivo Spinal Fusion Cage Using Additive Manufacturing, Gorman Donnelly

Honors Theses

This project involved the design of an all-in-one patient-specific lumbar spinal fusion cage using Direct Metal Laser Sintering (DMLS) manufacturing. The cage is zero-profile and does not need the use of supplemental fixation. It was manufactured out of the titanium alloy Ti 6Al-4V using a DMLS rapid prototyping machine from a third party company. The endplates of the cage are patient-specific allowing for a larger surface contact area between the cage and the vertebral bodies than most cages on the market. This fosters a more successful fusion as well as decreases surgery time, effectively decreasing recovery time. Different porosity variations …