News and Insights of 3D Printing and Manufacturing
Shapeways, a global digital manufacturing platform driven by purpose-built software, offers five predictions for additive manufacturing in 2022 based on strong market momentum, increased technology investments, and strengthened industry partnerships and collaborations over the past year.
Formlabs is the first 3D printing company listed in a major group purchasing organization (GPO) catalog, demonstrating the increasing demand for 3D printed surgical tools and medical supplies in hospitals and Ambulatory Surgical Centers (ASCs). Formlabs received a contract from Vizient, the largest member-driven healthcare GPO in the nation, to offer its 3D printers, materials, and solutions for converting CT/MR imaging into tactile, patient-specific anatomical replicas for surgical planning, implant sizing, and patient consent. The contract provides negotiated pricing, terms and conditions for Vizient member healthcare organizations.
Medical device manufacturers Nvision Biomedical Technologies and Watershed Idea Foundry have received FDA clearance for what is reportedly the world’s first 3D printed titanium anterior cervical plate.
SLM Solutions has started a cooperation with MAHLE, one of the leading automotive suppliers and development partners from Stuttgart, Germany. MAHLE will utilize SLM Solution’s systems to empower OEMs and Tier 1 suppliers to fulfill their need for metal Additive Manufacturing in serial production. By joining forces, the two companies are improving the speed and quality of automotive components in both prototype and serial production.
In collaboration with a leading global crystals manufacturer, Dutch fashion tech designer Anouk Wipprecht just released her new 3D printed HeartBeatDress – a dress that records and broadcasts something very ‘intimate’ to you as a provocation to be true to your feelings. Considering that Wipprecht’s 3D printed dress creations are often so advanced that they enjoy popularity for several years after the initial launch, each new release is an event for both the 3D printing and the fashion tech industries.
3D bioprinting firm BICO has announced an initial $1.5 million contract manufacturing deal with regenerative joint replacement start-up Nanochon.
3D printed anatomical models developed by rapid prototyping service provider Laser Modelling Israel (LMI) have aided surgeons in a complex segmentation surgery for conjoined twins.
Health Canada, the government arm that deals with national health, has approved its first Canadian-made 3D printed medical implant.
CASTOR, an Israeli-based software company, helps manufacturers with one of the hardest challenges in successfully implementing AM for production: identifying where, when, and how to use 3D printing to reduce costs. The company’s software has analyzed over 30,000 parts to date or assemblies uploaded to CASTOR in the period 2019 – 2021. The findings are presented in the CASTOR 2021 AM Trends Report.
Skåne University Hospital is the first hospital in the world to 3D print a PEEK cranioplasty implant on site for it to be successfully received by a patient. The implant, based on Evonik‘s VESTAKEEP PEEK biomaterial filament, was 3D printed using the ApiumM220 3D printer from the German company Apium. While this is the first reported case of an implant to be 3D printed and implanted in the same hospital location, other companies, such as Lima Corporate, are currently developing on-site 3D printing capabilities for metal implants.