Gregorio Marañón Hospital Implants World’s First Personalized Metamaterial Bone Prosthesis

The Advanced Planning and 3D Manufacturing Unit (UPAM3D) at Gregorio Marañón University General Hospital, part of the Community of Madrid, has reportedly designed, manufactured and implanted the world’s first personalized metamaterial bone prosthesis. Almost a year after the surgery, the patient, a 38-year-old man treated for a high-grade bone sarcoma in the tibia, has shown no infection or related complications, has retained knee alignment and mobility, and can now walk, in many cases without crutches.

The prosthesis was manufactured from a titanium alloy using 3D printing inside the hospital itself, a solution adopted because no implant on the market was capable of saving the patient’s leg without compromising knee mobility. The device was fitted by the hospital’s oncological surgeons a