TW201819343A - Method for manufacturing ceramic implant - Google Patents

Abstract

A method for manufacturing a ceramic implant is described. In this method, a ceramic composite material is prepared. A surface treatment is performed on a mold to form a plurality of microstructures in a surface of the mold, in which after the surface treatment, a water contact angle of the surface of the mold is equal to or smaller than 120 degrees. An injection molding process is performed with the ceramic composite material by using the mold to cover the surface of the mold with the ceramic composite material. A demolding step is performed on the ceramic composite material to separate the ceramic composite material from the surface of the mold. A sintering process is performed on the ceramic composite material to form a ceramic implant.

Description

   Manufacturing method of ceramic implant   

The invention relates to an implant, and in particular to a method for manufacturing a ceramic implant.

At present, the forming method of ceramic implants is mainly based on injection molding technology. However, since the surface of the ceramic implant formed after injection molding is smooth, a post-process is required to roughen the surface of the ceramic implant. As a result, after the ceramic implant is implanted, bone cells can be easily attached, thereby promoting osseointegration. Common ceramic implant roughening processes include sandblasting and acid etching.

The sand blasting process uses alumina blasting to surface-treat the ceramic implant to roughen the surface of the ceramic implant. However, the sandblasting process is not easy to control the distribution and size of the surface microstructure of the ceramic implant. In addition, since the ceramic material is a brittle material, it is easy to generate micro-cracks that are not easily observed during the sandblasting process, and the ultrasonic cleaning treatment after the sandblasting treatment cannot effectively remove the sand material.

On the other hand, the acid etching process uses an acid etching solution such as hydrofluoric acid or a mixed acid to roughen the surface of the ceramic implant. However, the acid etching solution not only easily causes environmental pollution, but also increases the cost of cleaning and treatment. In addition, if the concentration of the acid etching solution and the acid etching treatment time are not properly controlled, the grain boundaries of the ceramic implant material will be etched away by the acid, and the crystal grains will become larger, which will cause the strength of the ceramic implant to decrease.

Therefore, an object of the present invention is to provide a method for manufacturing a ceramic implant, which performs surface treatment on a mold surface by, for example, an electrical discharge machining method or an ultrafast laser, so that the mold surface has an anti-sticking microstructure. After the body material uses this mold to undergo injection molding and sintering processes, a ceramic implant with a roughened surface and microvoids can be generated. Therefore, by using this method, the ceramic implants can be processed without sandblasting or acid etching, and the surface microstructure distribution and size of the ceramic implants can be effectively controlled, and various problems caused by the traditional sandblasting and acid etching processes can be avoided. .

Another object of the present invention is to provide a method for manufacturing a ceramic implant, which can produce a ceramic implant with a roughened surface and micropores, so that osteoblasts can easily grow and grow thereon, and the cell mineralization is good. .

According to the above object of the present invention, a method for manufacturing a ceramic implant is proposed. In this method, a ceramic composite material is prepared. Surface treatment is performed on the mold to form a plurality of microstructures in the surface of the mold. After the surface treatment, the water droplet contact angle on this surface of the mold is equal to or greater than 120 °. The mold is used to perform the injection molding process with the ceramic composite material so that the ceramic composite material covers the surface of the mold. A demolding step is performed on the ceramic composite material to separate the ceramic composite material from the surface of the mold. The ceramic composite material is sintered to form a ceramic implant.

According to an embodiment of the present invention, the ceramic composite material prepared above comprises 3Y zirconia powder, a binder, a dispersant, and a lubricant, and the content of the 3Y zirconia powder is 77.8% by weight based on the ceramic composite material being 100% by weight. To 84 wt%, the content of the binder is 15.8 wt% to 22 wt%, the content of the dispersant is 0.1 wt% or less, and the content of the lubricant is 0.1 wt% or less.

According to an embodiment of the present invention, the surface treatment includes using a laser, and the laser is a femtosecond laser.

According to an embodiment of the present invention, the power of the laser is 100W to 500W, and the scan rate of the laser is 0.2mm / s to 3.5mm / s.

According to an embodiment of the present invention, the surface treatment includes using an electrical discharge machining method.

According to an embodiment of the present invention, a particle size of each microstructure formed on the surface of the mold is 1 μm to 10 μm.

According to an embodiment of the present invention, each of the microstructures formed on the surface of the mold is a convex surface.

According to an embodiment of the present invention, the surface treatment further includes forming a plurality of recessed surfaces in the surface of the mold.

According to an embodiment of the present invention, after the demolding step, the method for manufacturing the ceramic implant further includes a solvent degreasing step for the ceramic composite material, and a thermal degreasing step for the ceramic composite material after the solvent degreasing step.

According to an embodiment of the present invention, the pore diameter of the microstructure on the surface of the ceramic implant is between 1.5 μm and 3 μm.

According to the above object of the present invention, a method for manufacturing a ceramic implant is further provided. In this method, a ceramic composite material is prepared. Surface treatment of the mold to form a plurality of microstructures in the surface of the mold, wherein the particle size of each microstructure is 1 μm to 10 μm, and performing this surface treatment includes using laser or electrical discharge machining. The mold is used to perform the injection molding process with the ceramic composite material so that the ceramic composite material covers the surface of the mold. A demolding step is performed on the ceramic composite material to separate the ceramic composite material from the surface of the mold. The ceramic composite material is sintered to form a ceramic implant.

According to an embodiment of the present invention, the power of the laser is about 100W to about 500W, and the scanning rate of the laser is about 0.2mm / s to about 3.5mm / s.

100‧‧‧ steps

102‧‧‧step

104‧‧‧step

106‧‧‧ steps

108‧‧‧ steps

110‧‧‧step

112‧‧‧step

In order to make the above and other objects, features, advantages, and embodiments of the present invention more comprehensible, the description of the drawings is as follows: [FIG. 1] A ceramic implant according to an embodiment of the present invention is shown A flowchart of the manufacturing method; and [FIG. 2] is a schematic micro diagram showing a surface structure of a mold according to an embodiment of the present invention.

In view of the traditional ceramic implants, the surface of the ceramic implants must be roughened by sandblasting or the surface of the ceramic implants must be roughened by acid etching. Implants have problems such as micro-cracks that lead to a decrease in structural strength and the inability of sand to be effectively removed. The acid etching method also has problems such as difficulty in controlling the surface microstructure, reduction in the strength of the ceramic implant, and difficulty in cleaning the acid solution. Therefore, the present invention proposes a method for manufacturing a ceramic implant, which can form a ceramic implant with a surface microstructure without going through a sandblasting process or an acid etching process.

Please refer to FIG. 1, which is a flowchart illustrating a method for manufacturing a ceramic implant according to an embodiment of the present invention. In this embodiment, this method can be used to manufacture ceramic implants for dental implants, for example. When manufacturing a ceramic implant, step 100 may be performed to prepare a ceramic composite material. In some examples, the ceramic composite material includes 3Y zirconia (ie, 3 mol% yttria in zirconia powder) powder, a binder, a dispersant, and a lubricant. In some exemplary examples, based on 100% by weight of the ceramic composite material, the content of 3Y zirconia powder is about 77.8% to about 84% by weight, the content of the binder is about 15.8% by weight to about 22% by weight, and the content of the dispersant is It is equal to or less than about 0.1 wt%, and the content of the lubricant is equal to or less than about 0.1 wt%. The step of preparing the ceramic composite material may include mixing these 3Y zirconia powders, a binder, a dispersant, and a lubricant.

At the same time, step 102 may be performed to provide a mold and perform surface treatment on the mold to roughen the surface of the mold for shaping and form several microstructures on the surface of the mold. The material of the mold may be, for example, a metal, such as stainless steel. In some illustrative examples, the particle size of each microstructure may be from about 1 μm to about 10 μm. In some examples, each microstructure is a convex surface, and the convex surface may be a columnar surface or a mound-like surface. In some examples, during the surface treatment, several concave surfaces may be formed in the surface for mold shaping, so that the surface for shaping has several convex surfaces, as shown in FIG. 2. These microstructures can make the surface of the mold hydrophobic, and make the surface of the mold have anti-sticking effect, which is conducive to demolding. In some examples, after the surface treatment, the water droplet contact angle on the surface of the mold may be equal to or greater than about 120 °. In some preferred examples, after the surface treatment, the contact angle of water droplets on the surface of the mold is equal to or greater than about 130 °.

In some examples, the surface treatment of the mold includes the use of a laser, such as a femtosecond laser. For example, when performing surface treatment, the power of the laser used may be about 100W to about 500W, and the scan rate of the laser may be about 0.2mm / s to about 3.5mm / s. In other examples, the surface treatment of the mold includes electrical discharge machining.

In this embodiment, the order of the step of preparing the ceramic composite material and the step of surface-treating the mold can be adjusted. In some examples, a mold may be provided and surface treated before the ceramic composite material is prepared. In other examples, ceramic composite materials can be prepared before the mold is surface treated.

Next, step 104 may be performed to perform an injection molding process to inject the ceramic composite material into the mold, so that the ceramic composite material covers the surface-treated surface of the mold. In the injection molding process, since the ceramic composite material covers the surface-treated surface of the mold, the ceramic composite material will fill the recessed portions in the microstructure of the mold surface, so that the complementary microstructure of the microstructure in the mold surface will Formed on the surface of the ceramic composite material, that is, the convex surface of the mold surface will cause the ceramic composite material to form a concave surface (that is, a micro-hole), or the concave surface of the mold surface will cause the ceramic composite material to form a convex ridge surface, and A plurality of concave ridges (that is, micro-holes) can be looped out from the surface of the plurality of convex ridges, so that the ceramic composite material has a roughened surface, and the roughened surface has a micro-hole structure composed of several micro-holes.

After the injection molding process is completed, step 106 may be performed to perform a demolding step to separate the ceramic composite material from the surface of the mold and remove the ceramic composite material from the mold. Because the surface of the mold surface has anti-sticking effect, the mold can be smoothly removed from the ceramic composite material to separate the ceramic composite material from the mold surface, and the surface of the ceramic composite material after demolding has The microstructure on the mold surface is complementary to the surface microstructure. Therefore, the ceramic composite material after demolding has a rough surface formed by several micro-voids. Because the mold surface has an anti-stick effect, the microstructure of the mold surface can be maintained after multiple injection molding processes, making the subsequent use of this mold for the injection molding process and the surface of the ceramic composite material after demolding rough. The degree of surface roughness can still be maintained, and the surface roughness of the ceramic composite material after injection molding is not much different.

In some examples, after the demolding step, step 108 may be optionally performed to perform a solvent degreasing step on the ceramic composite material after demolding. In some exemplary examples, during the solvent degreasing step, the ceramic composite material may be immersed in, for example, an aqueous solvent or an oily solvent to remove a part of the adhesive in the ceramic composite material. For example, the solvent degreasing step can remove about 50% of the binder in the ceramic composite.

In some examples, after the solvent degreasing step, step 110 may be optionally performed to perform a thermal degreasing step on the ceramic composite material after the solvent degreasing. In some exemplary examples, the thermal degreasing step may raise the process temperature to about 900 ° C. and maintain the temperature for about 2 hours. For example, the thermal degreasing step can remove about 50% of the adhesive remaining in the ceramic composite.

Next, step 112 may be performed to sinter the ceramic composite material, and sinter the ceramic composite material after injection molding into a ceramic implant. Since the ceramic composite material after injection molding and demolding has a rough surface formed by several micro-holes, the ceramic implant formed by the ceramic composite material after sintering also has a rough surface formed by several micro-holes. surface. Since the ceramic implant will shrink after sintering, the pore size of the microstructure on the surface of the ceramic implant will also decrease. In some exemplary examples, the pore size of the microstructure on the surface of the ceramic implant is less than 5 μm. In some illustrative examples, the pore size of the microstructure is between 1.5 μm and 3 μm.

It can be known from the above-mentioned embodiments that one advantage of the present invention is that the manufacturing method of the ceramic implant of the present invention is to perform surface treatment on the mold surface by, for example, an electric discharge machining method or an ultra-fast laser, so that the mold surface has anti-sticking micro Structure, so that after the ceramic implant material uses this mold to undergo injection molding and sintering processes, a ceramic implant with a roughened surface and microvoids can be generated. Therefore, by using this method, the ceramic implant can be processed without sandblasting or acid etching, and the distribution and size of the surface microstructure of the ceramic implant can be effectively controlled, and various problems caused by the traditional sandblasting process and acid etching process can be avoided. .

It can be known from the above-mentioned embodiments that another advantage of the present invention is that the ceramic implant manufacturing method of the present invention can produce a ceramic implant with a roughened surface and micropores, so the osteoblasts can easily grow on it. The cell mineralization is good.

Although the present invention has been disclosed as above by way of example, it is not intended to limit the present invention. Any person with ordinary knowledge in this technical field can make various changes and modifications without departing from the spirit and scope of the present invention. Therefore, the protection scope of the present invention shall be determined by the scope of the appended patent application.

Claims (12)

    A method for manufacturing a ceramic implant includes: preparing a ceramic composite material; and subjecting a mold to a surface treatment to form a plurality of microstructures on one surface of the mold, wherein after the surface treatment, the surface of the mold The contact angle of water droplets is equal to or greater than 120 °; using the mold, and performing an injection molding process with the ceramic composite material so that the ceramic composite material covers the surface of the mold; and performing a demolding step on the ceramic composite material, To separate the ceramic composite material from the surface of the mold; and perform a sintering process on the ceramic composite material to form a ceramic implant.         For example, the method for manufacturing a ceramic implant according to item 1 of the patent application, wherein the preparation of the ceramic composite material comprises mixing a 3Y zirconia powder, a binder, a dispersant, and a lubricant, and the ceramic composite material is 100 wt. The content of the 3Y zirconia powder is 77.8 wt% to 84 wt%, the content of the binder is 15.8 wt% to 22 wt%, the content of the dispersant is equal to or less than 0.1 wt%, and the content of the lubricant is It is equal to or less than 0.1 wt%.         For example, the method for manufacturing a ceramic implant according to item 1 of the application, wherein performing the surface treatment includes using a laser, and the laser is a femtosecond laser.         For example, the method for manufacturing a ceramic implant according to item 3 of the patent application, wherein the laser power is 100W to 500W, and the laser scan rate is 0.2mm / s to 3.5mm / s.         For example, the method for manufacturing a ceramic implant according to item 1 of the application, wherein performing the surface treatment includes using an electrical discharge machining method.         For example, the method for manufacturing a ceramic implant according to item 1 of the application, wherein the particle size of each of the microstructures formed on the surface of the mold is 1 μm to 10 μm.         For example, the method for manufacturing a ceramic implant according to item 1 of the application, wherein each of the microstructures formed on the surface of the mold is a convex surface.         For example, the method for manufacturing a ceramic implant according to item 1 of the application, wherein performing the surface treatment further includes forming a plurality of depressed surfaces in the surface of the mold.         For example, the method for manufacturing a ceramic implant according to item 1 of the application, after the demolding step, further includes: performing a solvent degreasing step on the ceramic composite material; and after the solvent degreasing step, performing the ceramic composite material One thermal degreasing step.         For example, the method for manufacturing a ceramic implant according to item 1 of the patent application, wherein the pore diameter of the microstructure on the surface of the ceramic implant is between 1.5 μm and 3 μm.         A method for manufacturing a ceramic implant includes: preparing a ceramic composite material; subjecting a mold to a surface treatment to form a plurality of microstructures on one surface of the mold, wherein each of the microstructures has a particle size of 1 μm to 10 μm, and performing the surface treatment includes using a laser or an electrical discharge machining method; using the mold, and performing an injection molding process with the ceramic composite material so that the ceramic composite material covers the surface of the mold; the ceramic The composite material undergoes a demolding step to separate the ceramic composite material from the surface of the mold; and a sintering process is performed on the ceramic composite material to form a ceramic implant.         For example, the method for manufacturing a ceramic implant according to item 11 of the application, wherein the laser power is 100W to 500W, and the laser scan rate is 0.2mm / s to 3.5mm / s.