News and Insights of 3D Printing and Manufacturing
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.
Stryker today announced that it is to invest over €200 million in Research, Development and Innovation (RD&I) projects at three of its five Cork facilities as it continues its vigorous innovation journey to deliver next generation products and services across its Medical Surgical, Orthopaedics and Neurotechnology and Spine offerings. The RD&I projects are supported by the Irish Government through IDA Ireland.
Zenith Tecnica, a New Zealand-based titanium additive manufacturing company, has had quite the journey since its founding in 2014, becoming one of the country’s leading forces in the metal AM sector. Today, Zenith Tecnica continues to scale its business and expand its 3D printing capabilities with the installation of its fourth and fifth GE Additive Arcam EBM machines.
HP Inc. is surely smiling a little brighter today, as it has deployed a number of Jet Fusion 3D printing systems to teledentistry pioneer SmileDirectClub, for a total of 49 operating systems. SmileDirectClub, which specializes in doctor-directed, remote clear aligner therapy, now has the capacity to produce over 50,000 unique mouth molds a day and nearly 20 million in the next 12 months. That’s a lot of corrected smiles!
Inovus Medical has installed a new production level SLS 3D printer from 3D Systems in its manufacturing facility in St Helens, Merseyside. The laser sintering 3D printer enables the company to produce plastic parts with a finish level that rivals that of injection molding, without the expensive upfront cost of tooling and mold production. In addition, the laser sintering process that does not require support structures, thus increasing printer bed utilization and production capacity.