Additive Manufacturing of Porous Implants

Porous biomaterials are at the forefront of biomedical innovation, offering unique advantages for device applications requiring precise architectural features, tailored surface properties, and reproducible manufacturing processes. The field has advanced rapidly through digital design and cutting-edge fabrication technologies, enabling the creation of complex, application-specific porous structures. Yet, critical challenges persist, most notably in integrating design and manufacturing, maintaining robust quality assurance, and demonstrating reliable functional performance in clinical settings.

This Research Topic aims to unite research that leverages digital technologies and advanced manufacturing systems to advance the development, evaluation, and implementation of porous biomaterials for biomedical device applications. While porous ceramics remain a key area of interest, the scope also encompasses polymers, composites, and hybrid systems with comparable biomedical relevance. Contributions should go beyond material formulation to address device engineering more holistically, from modeling and fabrication to validation in biological and clinical contexts.

The goal is to clarify the relationships among design, processing, and in-use performance, and to support approaches that enable reproducible, regulatory-compliant production and effective clinical translation.

We welcome work on, but not limited to:
- Digital and computational design strategies to optimize pore architecture and device functionality
- Advanced and hybrid manufacturing methods, including additive manufacturing and robotic printing
- Studies establishing process–structure–function relationships with biological validation
- In-line monitoring, quality assurance, and quality-by-design approaches
- Engineering of biointerfaces targeting outcomes such as osseointegration, tissue regeneration, and antimicrobial activity
- Standards, workflows, and regulatory frameworks for clinical translation and customization

Article types and fees

This Research Topic accepts the following article types, unless otherwise specified in the Research Topic description:

• Brief Research Report
• Data Report
• Editorial
• FAIR² Data
• General Commentary
• Methods
• Mini Review
• Original Research
• Perspective
• ... View all formats

Articles that are accepted for publication by our external editors following rigorous peer review incur a publishing fee charged to Authors, institutions, or funders.

Article types

This Research Topic accepts the following article types, unless otherwise specified in the Research Topic description:

• Brief Research Report
• Data Report
• Editorial
• FAIR² Data
• General Commentary
• Methods
• Mini Review
• Original Research
• Perspective
• Review

Keywords: porous ceramics, biomaterials, biomedical devices, additive manufacturing, pore architecture, tissue engineering, biointerfaces, quality assurance, digital design, clinical translation

Important note: All contributions to this Research Topic must be within the scope of the section and journal to which they are submitted, as defined in their mission statements. Frontiers reserves the right to guide an out-of-scope manuscript to a more suitable section or journal at any stage of peer review.