AccScience Publishing / IJB / Online First / DOI: 10.36922/IJB025270261
REVIEW ARTICLE
Early Access

Biomimetic and personalized optimization of additive-manufactured metallic bone implants: Design, simulation, and clinical outcomes

Lamiae Jaouher1 Abdelwahed Barkaoui1,2* Khalil Aouadi3 Haifa Sallem4
Show Less
1 LERMA Lab, International University of Rabat, Parc Technopolis, Rocade de Rabat-Sale, Morocco
2 LMAI Lab, Ecole Nationale d’Ingénieurs de Tunis, Université de Tunis El Manar, Tunisia
3 Engineering and durability of materials center, Moroccan Foundation for Advanced Science, Innovation and Research (MAScIR), University Mohammed VI Polytechnic, Lot 660, Hay Moulay Rachid, Ben Guerir, Morocco
4 Institute of Systems Engineering, HEI of HES-SO Valais-Wallis, HES-SO University of Applied Sciences and Arts Western Switzerland, Rue de l’Industrie 23, Sion, Switzerland
Received: 1 July 2025 | Accepted: 6 August 2025 | Published online: 25 August 2025
(This article belongs to the Special Issue 3D Printing for Advancing Orthopedic Applications)
© 2025 by the Author(s). This article is an open access article distributed under the terms and conditions of the Creative Commons Attribution 4.0 International License ( https://creativecommons.org/licenses/by/4.0/ )
Abstract

Additive manufacturing (AM) has transformed the field of metallic bone implants by enabling the production of patient-specific, biomimetic, and high-performance devices. This review focuses on the personalized design of bone implants using AM technologies, particularly selective laser melting (SLM) and electron beam melting (EBM), and their capacity to fabricate complex lattice structures that replicate the trabecular architecture of native bone. These architectures enhance load transfer, reduce stress shielding, and promote osseointegration. The review also explores current strategies and digital tools for biomimetic design, as well as numerical simulation methods, including finite element analysis (FEA), computational fluid dynamics (CFD), and multi-field coupling models, used to optimize implant geometry, porosity, and mechanical performance. Furthermore, it synthesizes recent clinical and preclinical data evaluating in vivo functionality, biological integration, and the latest advancements in the optimization of personalized bone implant design. Altogether, the work provides a comprehensive roadmap for researchers and clinicians engaged in implant innovation and skeletal tissue repair.

Keywords
Additive manufacturing
Personalized bone implants
Biomimetic implants
Selective laser melting
Electron beam melting
Lattice structures
Numerical simulation
Funding
This work was supported by the Morocco–Switzerland bilateral program within the framework of the Memorandum of Understanding signed between the Ministry of Higher Education, Scientific Research and Innovation of the Kingdom of Morocco and the State Secretariat for Education, Research and Innovation of the Swiss Confederation.
Conflict of interest
The authors declare no conflict of interest
Share
Back to top
International Journal of Bioprinting, Electronic ISSN: 2424-8002 Print ISSN: 2424-7723, Published by AccScience Publishing