3D-Druck von Kunststoff-Medizinprodukten

Abstract

Additive Manufacturing is of growing importance for the production of medical devices. A major obstacle still represents the relatively high manufacturing costs. The increased use of 3D printing technology offers significant potential in reducing costs. That was the motivation for developing a 3D printing process for fabrication of biocompatible, sterilizable plastic models. 3D printing is a powder based process for layer wise manufacturing of models directly from computer data. Thin layers of a powder are spread on a platform and selectively bonded by printing a binder according to the current cross-section of the part to be built. PMMA (polymethylmethacrylate) is used as the raw-material for 3D-printing of medical devices. A solvent mix is used as binder fluid. The 3D printed models are extracted after appropriate drying time in the powder bed and warm stored, in order to accelerate the evaporation of the solvent. For the proof of biocompatibility, 3D printed models were tested in accordance with DIN EN ISO 10993-5. In cooperation with users, various application examples such as drilling templates, ear molds, denture models and models for preoperative planning have been realized and characterized.