Development and Verification of Novel Porous Titanium Metaphyseal Cones for Revision Total Knee Arthroplasty

Porous metaphyseal cones are widely used in revision knee arthroplasty. A new system of porous titanium metaphyseal cones has been designed based on the femoral and tibial morphology derived from a computed tomography–based anatomical database. The purpose of this study is to evaluate the initial mechanical stability of the new porous titanium revision cone system by measuring the micromotion under physiologic loading compared with a widely-used existing porous tantalum metaphyseal cone system.

The new cones were designed to precisely fit the femoral and tibial anatomy, and 3D printing technology was used to manufacture these porous titanium cones. The stability of the new titanium cones and the widely-used tantalum cones were compared under physiologic loading conditions in bench top test model.

The stability of the new titanium cones was either equivalent or better than the tantalum cones. The new titanium femoral cone construct had significantly less micromotion compared with the traditional femoral cone construct in 5 of the 12 directions measured (P < .05), whereas no statistical difference was found in 7 directions. The new porous titanium metaphyseal tibial cones demonstrated less micromotion in medial varus/valgus (P = .004) and posterior compressive micromotion (P = .002) compared with the traditional porous tantalum system.

The findings of this biomechanical study demonstrate satisfactory mechanical stability of an anatomical-based porous titanium metaphyseal cone system for femoral and tibial bone loss as measured by micromotion under physiologic loading. The new cone design, in combination with instrumentation that facilitates surgical efficiency, is encouraging. Long-term clinical follow-up is warranted.