News and Insights of 3D Printing and Manufacturing
Scientists at ETH Zurich and the South African company Strait Access Technologies (SAT) are using 3D printing to produce custom-made artificial silicone heart valves. This could help meet an aging population’s growing demand for replacement heart valves.
In the world of prototyping, Italy-based 3ntr has proven its worth, demonstrating time and time again that its 3D printing solutions offer the speed, precision and reliability needed to prototype viable products. The company’s 3D printers have even proven capable in one of the most demanding fields around—healthcare—through a recent partnership with global design studio Frog.
A series of recently approved codes by the American Medical Association (AMA) will help to push the adoption and use of 3D printing for clinical applications and healthcare. The new codes—consisting of four current procedural terminology (CPT) category III reimbursement codes, came into effect on July 1.
The fourth edition of the 3D Pioneers Challenge came to a close this past June, after the contest’s expert jury selected the winning submissions from a pool of 36 finalists. Winners from each of the challenge’s eight main categories were presented with their prizes (worth over € 40,000) at Rapid.Tech + FabCon 3D.
German chemical group WACKER is preparing to introduce a new and improved version of its ACEO 3D printing technology for silicone rubber at the upcoming K 2019 International Trade Fair for Plastics and Rubber. The new 3D printer—the ACEO Imagine Series K2—integrates a range of new features and capabilities, including printing up to four different silicone materials simultaneously.
Whilst 3D printing may not be new technology, the uptake of 3D printing for surgical applications is growing and offering novel, creative opportunities for personalized care. 3D printing technologies have been making their mark in medicine in many different areas, from pharmaceutical design to personalized, bioresorbable implants. Facilitating surgical teams both inside and outside the operating room, the adoption of 3D printing in surgery solutions is on the rise and is well positioned to be a fundamental instrument in the operating room of the future.
Australian startup Hearables 3D—a spin out of a research initiative at Swinburne University—has developed a process for 3D printing custom fitted ear devices, such as earphones and hearing aids, in less than an hour. The technique relies on smartphone 3D scanning and ultra-fast stereolithography 3D printing.
A small team of researchers from the Florida A&M University (FAMU) College of Pharmacy & Pharmaceutical Sciences (COPPS) is eyeing a future in which human corneas can be 3D printed with ease. Recently, the team accomplished a first in the United States by 3D printing a cornea using a high performance machine.
PrinterPrezz, Inc., a California-based medical manufacturing company that specializes in metal 3D printing and nanotechnologies, is partnering with UCSF Surgical Innovations, an incubator-accelerator for medtech startups at the University of California, San Francisco. Through the partnership, PrinterPrezz and UCSF Surgical Innovations will establish a co-located innovation facility aimed at driving the use of AM for medical devices.
Materialise has made a further inroad into the medical market with recent FDA clearance for its Mimics Enlight cardiovascular planning software suite. The software tools are designed to support clinicians in the planning of complex transcatheter mitral valve replacement (TMVR) procedures.