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The present study investigates the mechanical properties of three types of Ti6Al4V ELI bone screws realized using the laser powder bed fusion (LPBF) process: a fully threaded screw and two groups containing differently arranged sectors made of lattice-based Voronoi (LBV) structure in a longitudinal and transversal position, respectively. This study aims to explore the potentialities related to the introduction of LBV structure and assess its impact on the implant’s primary stability and mechanical performance.

The optimized bone screw designs were realized using the LPBF process. The quality and integrity of the specimens were assessed by scanning electron microscopy and micro-computed tomography. Primary stability was experimentally verified by the insertion and removal of the screws in standard polyurethane foam blocks. Finally, torsional tests were carried out to compare and assess the mechanical strength of the different designs.

The introduction of the LBV structure decreases the elastic modulus of the implant. Longitudinal LBV type screws demonstrated the lowest insertion torque (associated with lower bone damage) while still displaying promising torsional strength and removal force compared with full-thread screws. The use of LBV structure can promote improved functional performances with respect to the reference thread, enabling the use of lattice structures in the biomedical sector.

The paper fulfils an identified interest in designing customized implants with improved primary stability and promising features for secondary stability.

Medical devices are undergoing rapid changes because of the increasing affordability of advanced technologies like additive manufacturing (AM) and three-dimensional scanning. New avenues are available for providing solutions and comfort that were not previously conceivable. The purpose of this paper is to provide a comprehensive review of the research on developing prostheses using AM to understand the opportunities and challenges in the domain. Various studies on prosthesis development using AM are investigated to explore the scope of integration of AM in prostheses development.

A review of key publications from the past two decades was conducted. Integration of AM and prostheses development is reviewed from the technologies, materials and functionality point of view to identify challenges, opportunities and future scope.

AM in prostheses provides superior physical and cognitive ergonomics and reduced cost and delivery time. Patient-specific, lightweight solutions for complex designs improve comfort, functionality and clinical outcomes. Compared to existing procedures and methodologies, using AM technologies in prosthetics could benefit a large population.

This paper helps investigate the impact of AM and related technology in the field of prosthetics and can also be viewed as a collection of relevant medical research and findings.