AI Helps Design New Materials for Stronger Hip Implants

Scientists are using artificial intelligence to design new materials that could make hip replacements last longer and improve fracture healing. The materials are engineered to behave like bone, which gets thicker under certain loads instead of thinning.

Amir Zadpoor, a professor of orthopaedics at Leiden University Medical Center, led work on a metamaterial that thickens when stretched or compressed. The goal is to create an implant that stays fixed against bone while absorbing the two million steps people take each year.

Kumar, an associate professor of materials science at TU Delft, and colleagues used AI to generate a soft, porous metamaterial for complex fractures common in older adults. The design is intended to let bone cells grow into the structure during early healing.

Xiao-Hua Qin, an assistant professor at ETH Zurich, noted that the early stage of fracture healing determines long-term success. Current metal plates and screws can be stiffer than bone and may limit natural strain during movement. Mohammad Mirzaali, an associate professor of biomedical engineering at TU Delft, said the spinodoid designs can vary stiffness and porosity in different regions of an implant.

The team showed the material can be produced with three-dimensional printing. Kumar said tests are still needed to determine how the implants would perform inside the human body. He added that mimetic bone implants could be available within a few years.