A Kazakhstan-made implant has reached the operating room. A titanium spinal implant produced using 3D-printing technology was used in 21 patients, while researchers tracked how it integrated with bone tissue over the following year, DKNews.kz reports.
The results were published on September 16, 2026, in Scientific Reports, an international journal within the Nature Portfolio. The project brought together specialists from D. Serikbayev East Kazakhstan Technical University, the National Scientific Center for Traumatology and Orthopedics, and Nazarbayev University.
Bone tissue began growing into the implant within the first months
The researchers studied a porous implant made from Ti6Al4V titanium alloy using additive manufacturing. Its structure is designed to allow bone tissue to gradually grow into the implant as healing progresses.
The 21 patients were monitored for one year. Researchers used computed tomography to assess the process and measured bone density inside the implant itself.
One of the clearest changes appeared during the first three to four months after surgery. Bone density inside the implant increased substantially during this period and remained elevated after one year.
According to the study, higher bone density was also associated with better clinical outcomes.
During the follow-up period, patients showed a steady reduction in back and leg pain, along with improved functional status. The published study reported no cases of implant subsidence or migration among the participants.
Kazakhstan covered the full cycle from production to patient follow-up
3D-printed titanium implants are not a new technology in global medicine. What makes this Kazakhstan-based project notable is that the implant was designed and produced domestically, used in real clinical practice, and then followed by systematic collection of patient outcome data.
Researchers from Nazarbayev University also took part in the study. The authors include Amanzhol Turlybekuly, a researcher at NU’s Institute of New Materials and Energy Technologies, and Nurmukhan Zholshybek from the NU School of Medicine.
“For us, it is important that a technology developed and produced in Kazakhstan has gone all the way from laboratory research to clinical application. This also allowed us to study what happens after implantation and measure how bone tissue grows into the implant over time. The quantitative data obtained help us better understand the implant’s characteristics and may be used for the further development of medical technologies based on 3D printing,” said Amanzhol Turlybekuly.
The first author of the paper published in Scientific Reports is Bagdat Azamatov of D. Serikbayev East Kazakhstan Technical University. The full author list and study results are available in the Scientific Reports paper.
CT scans may help track how well the implant integrates with bone
Another practical aspect of the study goes beyond the implant itself.
The researchers examined whether quantitative CT data could be used to monitor early bone ingrowth inside the porous structure.
The findings suggest that this approach could potentially serve as a non-invasive marker of bone fusion and postoperative recovery.
The relationship was measurable: as bone density inside the implant increased, patients’ clinical indicators also improved.
For medical device developers, such data offer another way to compare implant designs. Porosity, geometry, and the interaction between the material and bone tissue can be assessed not only at the design stage, but also after implantation in patients.
Results from 21 patients are promising, but not definitive
The authors treat the findings as preliminary. With only 21 patients included, the results cannot automatically be applied to all people undergoing spinal stabilization surgery.
In the paper, the researchers call for larger prospective randomized studies to confirm the observations.
The current findings point to the technology’s clinical potential, but they do not yet prove that it is superior to other implants. What the study does provide is one year of follow-up data from a small patient group, including quantitative evidence of bone growth inside the implant.
The research was funded under targeted scientific programs of Kazakhstan’s Ministry of Science and Higher Education. The publication states that the funder was not involved in the study design, data collection or interpretation, preparation of the manuscript, or the decision to publish.
For Kazakhstan, the most significant outcome is that the technology has already passed into clinical use. An implant developed and manufactured in the country was used in patients, and the results of one year of follow-up were published in an international peer-reviewed journal.
