AccScience Publishing / IJB / Online First / DOI: 10.36922/IJB026160143
REVIEW ARTICLE
Early Access

Comprehensive review on additive manufacturing of porous biomedical titanium alloys: Structural design, surface modification and applications

Shunyu Yao1,2,3 Deyu Jiang2,3 Vladimir Vasilievich Uglov4 Fengcang Ma1* Yanhua Chen5* Liqiang Wang2,3*
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1 School of Materials and Chemistry, University of Shanghai for Science and Technology, Shanghai 200093, China
2 State Key Laboratory of Metal Matrix Composites, School of Materials Science and Engineering, Shanghai Jiao Tong University, Shanghai 200240, China
3 National Facility for Translational Medicine, Shanghai Jiao Tong University, Shanghai 200240, China
4 Laboratory of NanoElectroMagnetics, Institute for Nuclear Problems, Belarusian State University, Minsk, 220030, Belarus
5 School of Materials Science and Engineering, Xinjiang University, Xinjiang, 830046, China
Received: 18 April 2026 | Revised: 29 April 2026 | Accepted: 4 May 2026 | Published online: 4 May 2026
© 2026 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

Titanium and its alloys have become the primary materials for orthopedic implants due to their excellent biocompatibility, mechanical properties, and corrosion resistance. However, traditional manufacturing techniques struggle to achieve complex porous structures, and their insufficient surface bioactivity limits their clinical performance. Additive manufacturing (AM) technology enables the precise fabrication of titanium implants with personalized shape, biomimetic porous structures, and gradient mechanical properties. The controllable porosity, pore size, and pore shape not only achieve mechanical compatibility with human bone tissue, but also provide an optimal microenvironment for cell adhesion, proliferation, and vascularization. During the process of designing porous structures, the auxiliary roles of finite element analysis (FEA) and machine learning (ML) play a crucial role in performance prediction and process optimization. To further enhance the bioactivity of AM titanium alloys, surface modification techniques such as mechanical, physical, chemical, and electrochemical methods have been widely employed. These modified coatings significantly improve the osseointegration efficiency, antibacterial properties, and corrosion resistance of implants without compromising the mechanical integrity of the substrate. Currently, AM titanium alloy implants have been successfully applied in joint replacements, dental prosthetics, and other fields. Through the synergistic effect of personalized design and surface functionalization, they demonstrate superior clinical application potential compared to traditional implants. This article systematically reviews the porous structure design, surface modification techniques, and application progress of AM titanium alloy implants, aiming to provide valuable insights for clinical applications.

Keywords
Additive manufacturing
Titanium alloy
Structural design
Surface modification
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International Journal of Bioprinting, Electronic ISSN: 2424-8002 Print ISSN: 2424-7723, Published by AccScience Publishing