News and Insights of 3D Printing and Manufacturing
The Maxwell Medical Group’s Dental Flight, the dental unit at Maxwell Air Force Base (AFB) in Alabama, is enhancing support for active-duty Airmen by expanding advanced oral surgery services and adopting digital dentistry tools. These upgrades allow the clinic to handle complex procedures in-house, improving efficiency and continuity of care for service members.
A team of researchers from Duke University and Penn State, led by Julia Oh, PhD, and Ibrahim Ozbolat, PhD, is using a 3D bioprinted lung model to study how influenza and bacteria interact in human lung tissue. Funded by a $3.2 million NIH grant over four years, the project aims to uncover why some co-infections worsen illness, with experiments conducted in labs at Duke and Penn State.
Shimizu Corporation, a Japanese construction, architecture, and engineering firm established in 1804, has developed a spray-based 3D concrete printing system designed for the construction of large, curved reinforced components. The system integrates a nine-degree-of-freedom gantry robot with a material spray simulator that enables verification of sprayed-material behavior in advance. This enables highly accurate, automated fabrication of reinforced structural components and large components with complex geometries, applications that were difficult to realize using conventional material extrusion printing. The material spray simulator incorporated into the system was jointly developed with the Computational Engineering and Robotics Lab (CERLAB), led by Professor Kenji Shimada of the Department of Mechanical Engineering at Carnegie Mellon University.
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Custom 3D printed models tailored to individual patients are helping surgeons remove oral cancers with greater precision, according to new research from The Ohio State University Comprehensive Cancer Center – Arthur G. James Cancer Hospital and Richard J. Solove Research Institute (OSUCCC – James). In 92 percent of head and neck surgeries that used a 3D model during the operation, complete tumor removal was achieved, compared to 74 percent of surgeries performed without one. Researchers report that this approach allows for more accurate excision of malignant tissue while preserving healthy structures, potentially reducing the need for follow-up treatment.
A team of researchers from the Polyhedral Structures Laboratory at the University of Pennsylvania has unveiled a new flooring installation that demonstrates how 3D printing and cutting-edge design can be combined to create structures that significantly reduce concrete consumption and, consequently, the carbon footprint of construction. The project, called “3D-Printed Dual-Banded High-Performance Concrete Floor”, is led by Dr. Masoud Akbarzadeh, Associate Professor of Architecture and director of the Polyhedral Structures Laboratory (PSL).
US-based 3D printer manufacturer 3D Systems has received U.S. Food and Drug Administration 510(k) clearance broadening the approved use of its VSP Orthopedics virtual surgical planning and patient-specific instrumentation platform. The clearance now covers skeletally mature adolescents with normal bone structure, in addition to adult patients. This change removes previous regulatory constraints that limited use in adolescent cases and formally brings these procedures within the platform’s labeled indications.
Researchers at the U.S. private research universities Worcester Polytechnic Institute in Massachusetts and Northwestern University in Illinois have developed a method for producing small, biodegradable tubular scaffolds using 3D printing. The scaffolds feature microscopic grooves and channels designed to guide cell growth, with the goal of supporting the regeneration of functional blood vessels.
CurifyLabs, a company developing 3D printing technology for compounded medications, has launched CuraBlend Vet, a veterinary excipient system designed to produce 3D printed, palatable, and personalized medications for pets. Developed for use with the CurifyLabs Compounding System Solution (CSS), CuraBlend Vet aims to enhance quality, safety, and consistency in veterinary drug compounding.
Qase3D, a company focused on regulatory compliance and quality systems for medical 3D printing operations, has partnered with Waveland European Lawyers to introduce an MDR Management System for hospital-based Point-of-Care (PoC) 3D printing labs. The system addresses compliance with the European Medical Device Regulation (MDR) for facilities producing custom-made medical devices, including anatomical models, surgical guides, and patient-specific implants used in clinical settings.