Materialise Debuts a Fully Personalized TMJ Total Arthroplasty System

Materialise has officially launched its Personalized TMJ Total Arthroplasty System, a solution that combines implants, guides, and digital planning to streamline patient-specific total temporomandibular joint (TMJ) arthroplasty. The system provides a customized treatment for patients facing severe TMJ complications requiring joint replacement. 
 
The temporomandibular joint is the meeting spot for the skull and jawbone; it enables the jaw to open and close. A clinical study with patients who have received the personalized TMJ prosthesis showed improvement in their quality of life, pain levels, satisfaction, and eating ability compared to pre-surgery, with accurate implant placement reported in 97% of cases. Within the same clinical study, clinicians reported a 100% success rate for the TMJ system one year after surgery. 
 
“Our TMJ Total Arthroplasty System provides a completely personalized solution. It allows the seamless transfer of the virtual preoperative surgical plan to the operation room, enabling the functional reconstruction of the temporomandibular joint,” said Maarten Zandbergen, Market Manager CMF at Materialise. “This solution offers clinicians full support for this complex procedure. It truly facilitates personalized treatment by providing a complete system, including virtual planning software and clinical engineering support, as well as surgical guides, screws, and the implant itself.” 
 
Materialise’s TMJ system is based on a fully digital process, ensuring efficiency and accuracy based on the patient’s anatomy. Clinicians work with Materialise’s clinical engineers, who perform the digital planning process in close collaboration with the surgeon. The entire solution is sourced from Materialise, making it compatible with the company’s full personalized cranio-maxillofacial (CMF) solutions and expanding access to personalized treatment.
 
“Our implants, instruments, 3D planning technology, and clinical support empower surgeons as they strive to achieve precise and reliable outcomes,” Materialise CMF Market Specialist Martijn Orye noted. “Personalized solutions are becoming the primary choice for more challenging or complex cases such as TMJ replacements. Our solution streamlines and speeds up what used to be a slow personalization process.”
 
The digitalized workflow starts with a patient’s CT scan and dental information. During an interactive online session, a Materialise clinical engineer supports the treating physician in surgical planning and device design. As soon as planning and device design has been finalized, Materialise manufactures the personalized TMJ implant in its facilities, providing the surgeon with implants and instruments for surgery. 
 
Materialise’s personalized TMJ Total Arthroplasty System is currently available to surgeons in Europe, the United Kingdom, and Brazil.*  
 
This most recent announcement follows the company’s opening of a new U.S. medical 3D printing facility. The Plymouth, Mich.-based plant specializes in the 3D printing of personalized titanium CMF implants used in facial reconstructive surgery. Until the facility’s opening in August 2023, Materialise manufactured titanium CMF implants solely at its 3D printing facility in Belgium. 
 
Materialise incorporates more than three decades of 3D printing experience into a range of software solutions and 3D printing services that empower sustainable 3D printing applications. Its open, secure and flexible end-to-end solutions enable flexible industrial manufacturing and mass personalization in various industries—healthcare, automotive, aerospace, eyewear, art and design, wearables, and consumer goods. Headquartered in Belgium and with branches worldwide, Materialise combines the largest group of software developers in the industry with one of the world’s largest and most complete 3D printing facilities.  
 
*In Brazil, the prosthesis is placed on the market by a subsidiary of Materialise as legal manufacturer, registered and available as TMJ Arthroplasty System patient-matched.