Highly Interconnected Ti6V4Al Foam with Tailorable Pore Architecture and Mechanical Property by Powder Processing for Skeletal Tissue Ingrowth

Interfacial failure associated with stress shielding is a primary cause of implant rejection. The customized structure, supported with similar mechanical strength and interconnected porosity, would facilitate improved interfacial crosstalk. Herein, a fugitive templating technique is explored for fabricating tailorable open porous Ti6Al4V. Ti6Al4V powder-loaded slurry compositions are used to infiltrate fugitive templates with characteristics of 40, 30, and 20 pores per inch (PPI). The fabricated Ti6Al4V foam has open porosity ranging 73.8–91.7%, similar to trabecular bone. Further, the mechanical properties of foam are found to be in close proximity to trabecular bone. The sample of 40 PPI characteristics with different slurry combinations shows promising results compared to other fugitive templates. The Weibull modulus of all samples prepared using 40 PPI templates is evaluated to range between 3.14 and 11.31. Moreover, pore size distribution of the samples ranges from 422 ± 32.3 to 1148 ± 208 μm, with a porosity ranging from 73.8 ± 2.2 to 86.1 ± 0.8%. In vitro and in vivo studies confirm suitability of the samples for biological systems. The results indicate that the scaffolds are cytocompatible, bacteriostatic, hemocompatible, and promote osseoincorporation. Based on the optimized PPI–slurry combination, implants are fabricated as proof of concept.