Additive Manufacturing: The Future of Medical Devices?

A glimpse into the fast-approaching future of mass-customized medical devices can be seen in the advanced plastic and metal laser sintering systems that offer mass customization of patient-matched designs, an approach that promises to transform medical products.

Laser sintering is traditionally known as the rapid manufacturing technology of choice for ensuring the quickest route from product idea to market launch. But the recent MD&M East tradeshow held in June at the Jacob K. Javits Convention Center in New York City revealed what could be a glimpse into the fast-approaching future of mass-customized medical devices. It was there on the show floor that EOS (Electro-Optical Systems; Novi, MI), a leading manufacturer of laser sintering equipment, operated an EOSINT M 280, an advanced direct metal laser sintering (DMLS) system that can create uniquely patient-matched products that promote comfort and improve treatment.

Because laser sintering is an additive manufacturing process, it can easily build complex geometries such as those for dental prostheses, orthopedic implants, and personalized cutting and drilling guides that reduce surgical and patient recovery times. The technology can also make lightweight porous solids or rough surfaces that promote bone growth. A number of biocompatible, sterilizable materials including stainless steel, cobalt chrome, titanium, polyamides, and polyaryletherketone (PEEK) are available for laser-sintering.

“Medical manufacturers worldwide have already discovered the benefits of one-off, best-fit designs,” noted Martin Bullemer, the medical business development manager for EOS. “Going forward, they are pursuing validation and certification for in vivo applications.” For example, EOS had participated earlier in a European Union-funded project to develop patient-matched, porous, PEEK craniofacial implants that encourage osteointegration (the direct structural and functional connection between living bone and the surface of a load-bearing artificial implant), with very good results to further develop this application. Osseointegration has enhanced the science of medical bone, and joint replacement techniques.

The EOSINT M 280 is the latest advancement in the additive layer manufacturing of metal components. It directly produces top-quality metal parts on the basis of 3D CAD data – fully automatically, in only a few hours, and no need for tools. It uses DMLS to build the parts up layer-by-layer by melting fine metal powder with a laser beam. This enables the creation of extremely complex geometries such as free form surfaces, deep grooves and 3D cooling channels.

The system can be equipped with a 200 watt or 400 watt solid state laser that provides an exceptionally high quality radiation and stable performance through the Laser Power Monitoring (LPM) control. Together with an optimized Gas Management System, this guarantees optimal and consistent processing conditions for highest and constant part building qualities. The system operates in both protective nitrogen and argon atmospheres. This allows the system to process a wide range of materials, from light metals to stainless and tooling steel to super alloys.

The process software contains an array of intelligent exposure strategies and features for optimizing and adapting the build process for a variety of material types and applications. The EOSINT M 280 EOS offers a number of powdered metal materials with corresponding parameter sets that have been optimized according to the application. They produce parts with standardized property profiles (PPPs). EOS ensures maximum reliability by subjecting all the relevant products to an intensive process development procedure and constant quality assurance.

System capacity can be adapted to different customer requirements with a variety of options and additional equipment. For example, Integrated Process Chain Management (IPCM) modules enable greater productivity, higher quality and increased user-friendliness, and can also be added to at any time.

The distinctive features of the this system are the quality of the parts it produces and the ergonomically designed peripherals that make the system an ideal production tool for the economical batch-size optimized manufacture of parts at all stages of the product life cycle. The system is therefore perfectly suited for an industrial environment.

EOS was founded in 1989 and is today a world-leading manufacturer of laser-sintering systems, which is the key technology for fast, flexible and cost-effective e-Manufacturing of products, patterns and tools. The technology manufactures parts for every phase of the product life cycle, directly from electronic data. Laser-sintering accelerates product development and optimizes production processes. EOS completed its business year 2009/2010 with revenues of €64 million ($90.4 million). The company employs 300 people worldwide, 250 of them in Krailling near Munich, Germany.

www.eos.info