DIR Return Create A Forum - Home
---------------------------------------------------------
Cambridge Medical 3D Visualisation and Printing Group
HTML https://cam3dvp.createaforum.com
---------------------------------------------------------
*****************************************************
DIR Return to: 3D printing technologies
*****************************************************
#Post#: 4--------------------------------------------------
What are you using for 3D printing?
DIR By: jerrynayler
Date: February 23, 2018, 5:32 am
---------------------------------------------------------
To kick off, it would be interesting to know what materials
people are using for 3D printing. There are many different
technologies out there but in Media Studio our experience has
been with:
Plastics - FDM (fused deposition modelling)
This is at the low-cost end, but we have found it useful for
prototyping, manufacturing small devices and for repairs. Geoff
has recently made some nice models of babies' faces from 3D
ultrasound. Most structures need to be printed with supports
that are then removed and any remaining support material is
filed off. Because of the way that the software creates strong
internal structures, these models can be both light and strong.
Metals - SLS (selective laser sintering)[/b]
We design cranioplasty plates for printing in Titanium, working
closely with the Clinical Engineering Department and
Neurosurgery. A company in South Wales, Renishaw, prints and
finishes the plates and they are used to repair skull defects in
patients who have had neurosurgery. The advantages of 3D
printing are the precision of fit, speed of production and low
infection rates. There's a lot more potential that we'd like to
explore for bespoke implants for maxillofacial and other
reconstruction surgery.
Plaster and cyanoacrylate binder jetting
The majority of our in-house printing is done on this large
machine. It was originally designed to make accurate,
full-colour industrial prototypes but has been found to be
particularly suitable for making surgical planning models.
Working from patient CT scans, Geoff creates precise replicas of
bone or soft tissues. The bone models are hard enough to bend
plates against, so that the surgeon can plan and prepare for
complex reconstructions and save time in theatre. The principal
users have been maxillofacial surgeons - Mr Malcolm Cameron has
shown how these models can help with complex trauma cases, as
well as helping to visualise the extent of facial tumours.
Geoff has also made accurate, life-size models of organs and
blood vessels, for example of complex heart anomalies and kidney
tumours. Non-clinical applications include making full-colour,
life-size replicas of museum specimens and colour-coded models
of microscopic and molecular structures.
Photopolymer Resins (SLA)
Strong and very accurate models with a range of resin materials
to choose from, including coloured, transparent, heat-resistant,
flexible, and biocompatible. This printer is in the Clinical
Engineering Department, where Danny Marsden operates the machine
and finishes models by hardening in an oven and polishing clear
models. Used a great deal in dentistry but also very useful in
some types of surgical planning. Transparent models need to be
post-processed to make them optically clear. Support structures
need to be removed after printing, so a certain amount of
finishing is necessary.
Polyjet multi-material
None of the above systems can print in more than one material at
a time. This machine is able to print in a wide variety of
different materials, enabling transparency, multiple colours,
and variable flexibility in a single model. Stratasys and the
Manufacturing Training Centre in Coventry recently made a
transparent model for us showing cerebral vasculature in red and
blue, which Geoff had made from patient scan data. These would
make wonderful models for teaching and patient information.
*****************************************************
Page 1 of 1