Cerebral aneurysm clips are biomedical implants applied by neurosurgeons to re-approximate arterial vessel walls and prevent catastrophic aneurysmal hemorrhages in patients. Current methods of aneurysm clip production are labor intensive and time-consuming, leading to high costs per implant and limited variability in clip morphology. Metal additive manufacturing is investigated as an alternative to traditional manufacturing methods that may enable production of patient-specific aneurysm clips to account for variations in individual vascular anatomy and possibly reduce surgical complication risks. Relevant challenges to metal additive manufacturing are investigated for biomedical implants, including material choice, design limitations, postprocessing, printed material properties, and combined production methods. Initial experiments with additive manufacturing of 316 L stainless steel aneurysm clips are carried out on a selective laser melting (SLM) system. The dimensions of the printed clips were found to be within 0.5% of the dimensions of the designed clips. Hardness and density of the printed clips (213 ± 7 HV1 and 7.9 g/cc, respectively) were very close to reported values for 316 L stainless steel, as expected. No ferrite and minimal porosity is observed in a cross section of a printed clip, with some anisotropy in the grain orientation. A clamping force of approximately 1 N is measured with a clip separation of 1.5 mm. Metal additive manufacturing shows promise for use in the creation of custom aneurysm clips, but some of the challenges discussed will need to be addressed before clinical use is possible.
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September 2019
Research-Article
An Investigation Into the Challenges of Using Metal Additive Manufacturing for the Production of Patient-Specific Aneurysm Clips
Brandon J. Walker,
Brandon J. Walker
Medical Engineering,
Morgridge Institute for Research,
330 N. Orchard Street,
Madison, WI 53715
e-mail: bwalker4@wisc.edu
Morgridge Institute for Research,
330 N. Orchard Street,
Madison, WI 53715
e-mail: bwalker4@wisc.edu
1Corresponding authors.
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Benjamin L. Cox,
Benjamin L. Cox
Medical Engineering,
Morgridge Institute for Research,
Madison, WI 53715
e-mail: bcox1@wisc.edu
Morgridge Institute for Research,
330 N. Orchard Street
,Madison, WI 53715
e-mail: bcox1@wisc.edu
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Ulas Cikla,
Ulas Cikla
Neurological Surgery,
University of Wisconsin,
Madison, WI 53705
e-mail: cikla@neurosurgery.wisc.edu
University of Wisconsin,
1111 Highland Avenue
,Madison, WI 53705
e-mail: cikla@neurosurgery.wisc.edu
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Gabriel Meric de Bellefon,
Gabriel Meric de Bellefon
Grainger Institute for Engineering,
Madison, WI 53706
e-mail: mericdebelle@wisc.edu
1550 Engineering Drive
,Madison, WI 53706
e-mail: mericdebelle@wisc.edu
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Behzad Rankouhi,
Behzad Rankouhi
Department of Mechanical Engineering,
University of Wisconsin,
Madison, WI 53705
e-mail: rankouhi@wisc.edu
University of Wisconsin,
1513 University Avenue
,Madison, WI 53705
e-mail: rankouhi@wisc.edu
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Leo J. Steiner,
Leo J. Steiner
Medical Engineering,
Morgridge Institute for Research,
Madison, WI 53715;
Morgridge Institute for Research,
330 N. Orchard Street
,Madison, WI 53715;
Department of Biomedical Engineering,
University of Wisconsin,
Madison, WI 53706
e-mail: lsteiner3@wisc.edu
University of Wisconsin,
1550 Engineering Drive
,Madison, WI 53706
e-mail: lsteiner3@wisc.edu
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Puwadej Mahadumrongkul,
Puwadej Mahadumrongkul
Medical Engineering,
Morgridge Institute for Research,
Madison, WI 53715;
Morgridge Institute for Research,
330 N. Orchard Street
,Madison, WI 53715;
Department of Mechanical Engineering,
University of Wisconsin,
Madison, WI 53706
e-mail: mahadumrongk@wisc.edu
University of Wisconsin,
1513 University Avenue
,Madison, WI 53706
e-mail: mahadumrongk@wisc.edu
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George Petry,
George Petry
Medical Engineering,
Morgridge Institute for Research,
Madison, WI 53715
e-mail: gpetry@morgridge.org
Morgridge Institute for Research,
330 N. Orchard Street
,Madison, WI 53715
e-mail: gpetry@morgridge.org
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Mythili Thevamaran,
Mythili Thevamaran
Grainger Institute for Engineering,
Madison, WI 53706
e-mail: mthevamaran@wisc.edu
1550 Engineering Drive
,Madison, WI 53706
e-mail: mthevamaran@wisc.edu
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Rob Swader,
Rob Swader
Medical Engineering,
Morgridge Institute for Research,
Madison, WI 53715
e-mail: rswader@morgridge.org
Morgridge Institute for Research,
330 N. Orchard Street
,Madison, WI 53715
e-mail: rswader@morgridge.org
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John S. Kuo,
John S. Kuo
Department of Neurosurgery and Mulva
Clinic for the Neurosciences,
Dell Medical School,
University of Texas at Austin,
Austin, TX 78712
e-mail: john.kuo@austin.utexas.edu
Clinic for the Neurosciences,
Dell Medical School,
University of Texas at Austin,
1701 Trinity Street, Stop Z1500
,Austin, TX 78712
e-mail: john.kuo@austin.utexas.edu
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Krishnan Suresh,
Krishnan Suresh
Department of Mechanical Engineering,
University of Wisconsin,
Madison, WI 53706
e-mail: ksuresh@wisc.edu
University of Wisconsin,
1513 University Avenue
,Madison, WI 53706
e-mail: ksuresh@wisc.edu
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Kevin W. Eliceiri
Kevin W. Eliceiri
Medical Engineering,
Morgridge Institute for Research,
Madison, WI 53715;
Morgridge Institute for Research,
330 N. Orchard Street
,Madison, WI 53715;
1Corresponding authors.
Search for other works by this author on:
Brandon J. Walker
Medical Engineering,
Morgridge Institute for Research,
330 N. Orchard Street,
Madison, WI 53715
e-mail: bwalker4@wisc.edu
Morgridge Institute for Research,
330 N. Orchard Street,
Madison, WI 53715
e-mail: bwalker4@wisc.edu
Benjamin L. Cox
Medical Engineering,
Morgridge Institute for Research,
Madison, WI 53715
e-mail: bcox1@wisc.edu
Morgridge Institute for Research,
330 N. Orchard Street
,Madison, WI 53715
e-mail: bcox1@wisc.edu
Ulas Cikla
Neurological Surgery,
University of Wisconsin,
Madison, WI 53705
e-mail: cikla@neurosurgery.wisc.edu
University of Wisconsin,
1111 Highland Avenue
,Madison, WI 53705
e-mail: cikla@neurosurgery.wisc.edu
Gabriel Meric de Bellefon
Grainger Institute for Engineering,
Madison, WI 53706
e-mail: mericdebelle@wisc.edu
1550 Engineering Drive
,Madison, WI 53706
e-mail: mericdebelle@wisc.edu
Behzad Rankouhi
Department of Mechanical Engineering,
University of Wisconsin,
Madison, WI 53705
e-mail: rankouhi@wisc.edu
University of Wisconsin,
1513 University Avenue
,Madison, WI 53705
e-mail: rankouhi@wisc.edu
Leo J. Steiner
Medical Engineering,
Morgridge Institute for Research,
Madison, WI 53715;
Morgridge Institute for Research,
330 N. Orchard Street
,Madison, WI 53715;
Department of Biomedical Engineering,
University of Wisconsin,
Madison, WI 53706
e-mail: lsteiner3@wisc.edu
University of Wisconsin,
1550 Engineering Drive
,Madison, WI 53706
e-mail: lsteiner3@wisc.edu
Puwadej Mahadumrongkul
Medical Engineering,
Morgridge Institute for Research,
Madison, WI 53715;
Morgridge Institute for Research,
330 N. Orchard Street
,Madison, WI 53715;
Department of Mechanical Engineering,
University of Wisconsin,
Madison, WI 53706
e-mail: mahadumrongk@wisc.edu
University of Wisconsin,
1513 University Avenue
,Madison, WI 53706
e-mail: mahadumrongk@wisc.edu
George Petry
Medical Engineering,
Morgridge Institute for Research,
Madison, WI 53715
e-mail: gpetry@morgridge.org
Morgridge Institute for Research,
330 N. Orchard Street
,Madison, WI 53715
e-mail: gpetry@morgridge.org
Mythili Thevamaran
Grainger Institute for Engineering,
Madison, WI 53706
e-mail: mthevamaran@wisc.edu
1550 Engineering Drive
,Madison, WI 53706
e-mail: mthevamaran@wisc.edu
Rob Swader
Medical Engineering,
Morgridge Institute for Research,
Madison, WI 53715
e-mail: rswader@morgridge.org
Morgridge Institute for Research,
330 N. Orchard Street
,Madison, WI 53715
e-mail: rswader@morgridge.org
John S. Kuo
Department of Neurosurgery and Mulva
Clinic for the Neurosciences,
Dell Medical School,
University of Texas at Austin,
Austin, TX 78712
e-mail: john.kuo@austin.utexas.edu
Clinic for the Neurosciences,
Dell Medical School,
University of Texas at Austin,
1701 Trinity Street, Stop Z1500
,Austin, TX 78712
e-mail: john.kuo@austin.utexas.edu
Krishnan Suresh
Department of Mechanical Engineering,
University of Wisconsin,
Madison, WI 53706
e-mail: ksuresh@wisc.edu
University of Wisconsin,
1513 University Avenue
,Madison, WI 53706
e-mail: ksuresh@wisc.edu
Dan Thoma
Kevin W. Eliceiri
Medical Engineering,
Morgridge Institute for Research,
Madison, WI 53715;
Morgridge Institute for Research,
330 N. Orchard Street
,Madison, WI 53715;
1Corresponding authors.
Manuscript received January 15, 2019; final manuscript received April 9, 2019; published online July 15, 2019. Assoc. Editor: Kunal Mitra.
J. Med. Devices. Sep 2019, 13(3): 031009 (10 pages)
Published Online: July 15, 2019
Article history
Received:
January 15, 2019
Revised:
April 9, 2019
Citation
Walker, B. J., Cox, B. L., Cikla, U., de Bellefon, G. M., Rankouhi, B., Steiner, L. J., Mahadumrongkul, P., Petry, G., Thevamaran, M., Swader, R., Kuo, J. S., Suresh, K., Thoma, D., and Eliceiri, K. W. (July 15, 2019). "An Investigation Into the Challenges of Using Metal Additive Manufacturing for the Production of Patient-Specific Aneurysm Clips." ASME. J. Med. Devices. September 2019; 13(3): 031009. https://doi.org/10.1115/1.4043651
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