Contract Number: STRP 505954
Type of Project: FP6-Strep-Priority 3 ‘NMP’
Duration: 36 Months (2004-2007)

Participants

1.Inov – INESC InovaÇao (Portugal), 2.Force Technology (Denmark), 3.INASMET (Spain), 4.IREPA Laser (France), 5.Erothitan Titanimplante AG (Germany), 6.Materialise NV (Belgium), 7.RTM SpA (Italy), 8. ALMA Consulting Group (France), 9.F&S Stereolithographietech nik Gmbh (Germany), 10.FOTONA (Slovenia), 11.University of Lisbon (Portugal), 12.Superior Technical Institute of Lisbon (Portugal), 13.Pyrogenesis SA (Greece)

Summary

The aim of the RAMATI project is the development of Laser Powder Deposition for the production of biomedical titanium implants for small size, customized prosthesis for dental, maxillofacial and cranial reconstruction applications. The implant is layer-by-layer built using a computer controlled laser beam supplied with Ti powder. The production of the implants by this technique is performed at one stage, with low material loss and minimum implant contamination during the fabrication compared with the existing casting processes.

The project is structured in ten work packages:

1. Definition of requirements and socio-economic studies

2. Free form rapid manufacturing development

3. Free form manufacturing prototype construction

4. Software development

5. Biocompatible raw materials development

6. Integration and testing of free form manufacturing prototype

7. Technology validation and benchmarking

8. Pre-clinical trials

9. Exploitation and dissemination

10. Project management

Pyrogenesis plays a significant role in the project as the Ti powder supplier. It is involved in most work packages with a key presence in work packages 2 and 3 related to the development of pure titanium and titanium alloy powders with the required properties for laser deposition.

Spherical particles of Ti powder that Pyrogenesis produces using plasma atomization process for Ramati project, as seen in SEM