Pushing 3D Printing Forward

Researchers and students have demonstrated that inks can be used instead of thermoplastic filaments to 3D print functional biomedical devices. Michael McAlpine, Benjamin Mayhugh Associate Professor of Mechanical Engineering at the University of Minnesota, described such advances in the ESC Minneapolis keynote, “3D Printing Functional Materials & Devices.” A lot of the inks McAlpine’s group uses are nanometer-scale particle inks printed at a line-width scale of 10 microns and above for printing devices at the macro level. They have developed software as well as a high-precision robotic stage whose motion is coordinated with dispensing. Multiple inks, in a variety of viscosities, have been 3D printed on the same platform. Among the breakthroughs McAlpine described are 3D-printed patient-specific organ models, 3D-printed sensors and LEDs, and 3D-printed neural regeneration devices for peripheral and central nerve repair. Organ models have been used to aid doctors and educate patients before surgery, but those made of hard plastic or rubber-like materials have had some limitations. After a request for a prostate model that “felt like a prostate,” McAlpine’s group set out to 3D-print patient-specific models based on MRI scans using customizable soft inks. Silicone is typically difficult to print with a typical 3D printer, he said, but for use on the teamâ€...
Source: MDDI - Category: Medical Devices Authors: Tags: MD & M Minneapolis 3-D Printing Source Type: news