Materialise launches personalised temporomandibular joint arthroplasty replacement system
February 29, 2024

Materialise NV, headquartered in Leuven, Belgium, has launched its Personalised TMJ Total Arthroplasty System, a solution to treat patients requiring total temporomandibular joint (TMJ) arthroplasty. The solution combines implants, guides, and digital planning in an effort to streamline patient-specific TMJ treatment from a single company.
The TMJ is where the skull and jawbone meet, enabling the jaw to open and close. A clinical study with patients who have already received the personalised TMJ prosthesis showed improvement in their quality of life, pain levels, satisfaction, and eating ability compared to before surgery, with accurate implant placement reported in 97% of cases. Furthermore, clinicians reported a 100% success rate for the TMJ system one year after the surgery within the same clinical study.
“Our TMJ Total Arthroplasty System provides a completely personalised solution. It allows the seamless transfer of the virtual preoperative surgical plan to the operation room, enabling the functional reconstruction of the temporomandibular joint,” shared Maarten Zandbergen, Market Manager CMF at Materialise. “This comprehensive solution offers clinicians full support for this complex procedure. It truly facilitates personalised 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, enabling efficiency and accuracy based on the patient’s anatomy. The digitalised 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 finalised, Materialise manufactures the personalised TMJ implant in its facilities, providing the surgeon with implants and instruments for surgery. As the entire solution is sourced from Materialise, making it compatible with the company’s full personalised cranio-maxillofacial (CMF) solutions and expanding access to personalised treatment.
“Our implants, instruments, 3D planning technology, and clinical support empower surgeons as they strive to achieve precise and reliable outcomes,” said Martijn Orye, CMF Market Specialist. “Personalised solutions are becoming the primary choice for more challenging or complex cases such as TMJ replacements. Our complete solution streamlines and speeds up what used to be a slow personalisation process with other providers.”