What Is a Metamaterial?
A metamaterial is not defined by what it is made of, but by how it is structured. By arranging titanium rods at the millimetre scale into a precise lattice, engineers can make the metal behave mechanically like something completely different, in this case, human bone. The same principle is used in aerospace. Satellite panels and aircraft structural components use metamaterial lattices to be both light enough to fly and strong enough to survive extreme vibration and thermal stress. The Gregorio Maranon team borrowed that logic and applied it to reconstructive surgery. "We are reproducing bone from metal bars," lead UPM engineer Luis Saucedo told reporters after the announcement.
Prosthesis material
Titanium metamaterial lattice (3D-printed)
Hospital and research partner
Gregorio Maranon Hospital + UPM Madrid
Body site of the world-first implant
Tibia (lower leg)
Time between surgery and the patient walking
Approximately 12 months
Next planned implant sites
Wrist and sternum
Number of patients treated so far
2 (a third and fourth in preparation)
Original sector for metamaterial technology
Aerospace (satellites, aircraft)
From Aerospace to Operating Theatre
Milestone
/
Phase
"We are reproducing bone from metal bars.
"Luis Saucedo · UPM engineer · Gregorio Maranon team
What this means for other patients. Conventional prostheses fail when infection or cancer leaves too little healthy bone to anchor them. The metamaterial approach sidesteps that problem because the lattice can be tuned to any geometry and bonded with donor bone. The team expects to publish results enabling other hospitals to replicate the technique. Sternum and wrist versions are already in preparation at Gregorio Maranon, and the approach could in principle be extended to almost any load-bearin
