German surgical device manufacturer KLS Martin has made patient-specific ceramic implants built from Lithoz‘s calcium phosphate material LithaBone TCP a standard offering on its IPS Gate platform, and the company expects to reach 500 delivered implants by the end of 3Q 2026. IPS Gate is KLS Martin’s web-based platform for planning, ordering, and delivering its Individual Patient Solutions (IPS) implants.
Lithoz, based in Vienna and founded in 2011, develops high-performance ceramic materials, bioceramics, and 3D printers, and secured ISO 13485 certification for its quality management system in 2025 to meet medical device industry standards.
Resorbable Implants Built Through LCM
For the LithaBone TCP implants, KLS Martin uses Lithoz’s Lithography-based Ceramic Manufacturing (LCM) 3D printers, an additive manufacturing (AM) technology that allows for patient- and case-specific geometries as well as tailored porosities influencing how the scaffolds degrade and are replaced by newly formed bone. Fixation can be achieved with titanium screws or with KLS Martin’s SonicWeld Rx system, which uses resorbable polymer pins to create a fully resorbable implant unit and eliminate the need for a second surgery.
Frank Reinauer, Senior Director Division Implant at KLS Martin, said the addition gives surgeons broader access to patient-specific bioceramic implants through the digital planning workflow already used for other IPS solutions, and that it “shortens the path from CT data to a case-specific, tailored-porosity scaffold in a surgeon’s hands,” translating into faster treatment planning and more predictable delivery timelines for patients who rely on bone-regenerating implants.
The milestone highlights the growth of a 12-year research collaboration between the two companies, during which multiple clinical studies documented the safety and efficacy of 3D printed ceramic bone replacement solutions.
Johannes Homa, CEO of Lithoz, said what began 12 years ago as a research collaboration with KLS Martin “has grown into a proven clinical pathway with scalable solutions.” He pointed to KLS Martin’s results with the technology as a sign that resorbable, additively manufactured bone-regenerating implants are gaining broader clinical acceptance worldwide.
From Clinical Validation to Routine Ordering
KLS Martin and Lithoz’s specific strategy here is turning bioceramic implants into a routine digital-ordering product: the companies have moved away from treating patient-specific resorbable implants as a specialized, research-driven offering, folding them instead into the surgeon-facing IPS Gate platform and using the digital workflow surgeons already rely on for KLS Martin’s other implant types.
A comparable approach appeared in 2023 with 3D Systems‘ VSP Connect, a cloud-based surgical planning portal, powered by Enhatch, that links device representatives, case managers, designers, and surgeons in a single digital workflow for producing and delivering patient-specific implants and instruments. Like IPS Gate, it moves personalized device delivery out of a one-off, project-based process and into a standing platform surgeons can use routinely. The difference is scope: VSP Connect integrates 3D Systems’ own FDA-cleared workflows, printers, and materials, while IPS Gate is built around a single company’s implant line.
A related example is Insight Surgery‘s rebrand from 3D LifePrints around its EmbedMed platform, an FDA-cleared digital tool that lets surgeons move from patient scan data to personalized surgical guides and devices without a separate design cycle for each case. It shares KLS Martin’s approach of routing patient-specific devices through a surgeon-facing digital system, though EmbedMed centers on planning software instead of a specific implant material.
Across these cases, digital platforms are becoming the mechanism that turns patient-specific 3D printed devices from bespoke projects into a standard surgical option.
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Featured image shows KLS Martin now offers implants made from LithaBone TCP as an official product on their web-based IPS. Photo via KLS Martin.
Facts Only
* KLS Martin is a German surgical device manufacturer.
* Lithoz is a Vienna-based company founded in 2011.
* KLS Martin has integrated LithaBone TCP ceramic implants into its IPS Gate platform.
* LithaBone TCP is a calcium phosphate material developed by Lithoz.
* KLS Martin expects to deliver 500 implants by the end of the third quarter of 2026.
* IPS Gate is a web-based platform for planning, ordering, and delivering Individual Patient Solutions.
* Lithoz received ISO 13485 certification for its quality management system in 2025.
* Implants are produced using Lithography-based Ceramic Manufacturing (LCM) 3D printers.
* Fixation methods include titanium screws or the SonicWeld Rx resorbable polymer pin system.
* KLS Martin and Lithoz have maintained a research collaboration for 12 years.
* 3D Systems' VSP Connect and Insight Surgery's EmbedMed platform also utilize digital workflows for patient-specific devices.
Executive Summary
KLS Martin has transitioned its patient-specific bioceramic implants from a specialized research offering to a standard commercial product through the IPS Gate digital platform. By utilizing Lithoz’s LithaBone TCP material and Lithography-based Ceramic Manufacturing (LCM), surgeons can now order resorbable scaffolds with tailored porosities designed to be replaced by natural bone. The system aims to accelerate the transition from patient CT data to implant delivery, with a target of 500 units by late 2026.
This shift reflects a broader industry trend toward the "platformization" of personalized medicine. Similar to 3D Systems’ VSP Connect and Insight Surgery’s EmbedMed, the goal is to replace bespoke, project-based manufacturing with routine, cloud-based ordering workflows. While KLS Martin's approach is centered on a specific implant line, the overarching movement is toward integrating FDA-cleared digital tools to make 3D-printed, patient-specific devices a standard surgical option rather than a clinical exception.
Full Take
The strongest version of this narrative is that the medical industry is successfully moving from "artisanal" 3D printing—where each implant is a unique research project—to a scalable, industrial digital workflow that increases patient access to regenerative medicine.
This transition relies on a specific load-bearing pattern: the "platformization" of clinical care. By folding complex bioceramic engineering into a "routine digital-ordering product," the technical complexity is abstracted away from the surgeon. The persuasive push here is that efficiency (shorter paths from CT data to delivery) is the primary driver of clinical acceptance. However, the evidence provided is largely anecdotal, relying on the assertions of company CEOs and directors rather than independent clinical trial data or comparative outcome studies.
Patterns detected: ARC-0052 Authority Game
The underlying paradigm is the commodification of personalization. The assumption is that the value of a patient-specific implant is maximized when the friction of ordering it is minimized. This echoes the broader industrial trend of "Software as a Service" (SaaS) being applied to physical biology. While this increases efficiency, the second-order consequence is a shift in agency: the surgeon moves from a collaborator in a bespoke design process to a user of a proprietary digital interface.
Bridge Questions:
1. Does the move toward "routine ordering" reduce the level of surgical oversight in the design of tailored-porosity scaffolds?
2. How do the long-term clinical outcomes of these "standardized" patient-specific implants compare to those produced under the original research-driven model?
Counterstrike Scan: A coordinated campaign would use these partnerships to create an illusion of "industry consensus" to pressure hospitals into adopting specific proprietary platforms. The current content does not match this pattern; it is a standard industry announcement of a commercial milestone.