Effect of Sandblasting Process on 3D Printed Intervertebral Cage.

Abstract

To meet the growing requirement of spinal interbody fusion caused by trauma and disease, 3D printed porous titanium alloy scaffolds were applied as intervertebral cages to achieve structural reconstruction of bone defects. However, the biological inert of the titanium alloy hindered firm bonding between the bone and porous scaffold. Surface roughness that resulted from sandblasting treatment with alumina sand grains could endow the titanium alloy scaffold with bioactivity. Minimum and maximum-type cervical and posterior lumbar cages were used to optimize the sandblasting process, achieving an adequate and uniform sandblasting effect. The optimized sandblasting process parameters were as follows: alumina sand grains of 100 mesh, sandblasting distance of 10 cm, sandblasting pressure of 0.4-0.5 MPa, and sandblasting time of 15-20 s.