There are numerous uses for 3D Printing technology in everyday life, but one of the ones that gives us great satisfaction at Additium3D is when our manufacturing capabilities allow us to collaborate in medical initiatives to contribute to the wellbeing of others.
We recently told you our collaboration with the surgical team of the Hospital Universitario de La Fe in Valencia.The aim was for the surgical team to be able to study the area and to do this, after converting a simple .DICOM file into a printed solid, we provided a full-scale copy of the hip. The aim was for the team of surgeons who were to operate to be able to study the area and to do this, after converting a simple .DICOM file into a printed solid, we provided a full-scale copy of the hip to be operated on.
On this occasion it was Jose Ribes, doctor at the Hospital de la Ribera, located in Alzira (Valencia).who has been the person in charge of devising the project on which we have successfully and proudly embarked, and which we are going to tell you about below.
What did the client demand of us?
José came to us with an idea of what he wanted: to use 3D printing to create a support that would make life easier for dialysis patients, avoiding direct contact of the catheters with the skin. To do this, he had a sketch of what he wanted, but it was necessary to translate it into a 3D design and find the objectives to be met:
- Protect the patient and cover catheters.
- Adapt to the human body with ease.
- Be easy to put on and take off to make the nurses' work easier.
Based on Jose's initial idea and his requirements, we worked to make this medical project a success, which after approval would be tested on 20 patients for verification.
How did Additium3D deal with the customer's demands?
When a customer comes to us with a challenge, requirements and an idea of how it should be solved, our team always starts from the customer's initial idea and adapts the requirements to the material that comes closest. Therefore, the roadmap was established as follows:
- 3D Design from Jose's Sketch
- 3D Printing with SLA Technology and Resin 80 A of an elastic prototype
- Testing phase
- Iteration of improvements.
- Final design and 3D manufacturing of all units.
How did the Additium3D design team create the model to be printed?
Based on Jose's initial idea, the first 3D design was carried out, in which he opted for a very simple closure, which after the first tests was found to be too complicated to use for the nursing teams. For this reason, our engineering team proposed a series of modifications to Jose.
In the second iteration, the aim was to find a closure socket that was much easier to put on and take off. The tests were successful to some extent in the closure, but it was still a bit tricky to remove the sheath from the holder. On the other hand, it was found that in the case of dialysis removal at the thigh, the design was appropriate, but in the case of removal at the chest, a design change was needed to make it easier to attach.
In the last round of modifications by our design team, a tab was designed on one of the corners, so that the holster could be pulled off very easily, which was a success. Finally, a second version of the holder was made, in which a curvature was introduced in the design, which allowed it to adapt easily to the chest. With this, it was planned to manufacture half of the units flat, to test on the thigh, and the other half curved, to test on the patient's chest.
How did the Additium3D manufacturing team print the model?
At the request of Jose, who had read about it, the material selected for the occasion was Formlabs Resin 50 A, printed with our SLA Form3 Technology equipment. The visible problem from the outset was that with the elasticity of this material, it was very difficult to make a consistent and easy to apply and remove socket.
The logical order for further testing was that the next step was to see if Formlabs Resin 80 A would do the job, and in a way it did. The prototype was relatively easy to assemble, fit great on the body, and served its purpose.
The problem is that at a production level it was very costly to make 20 copies and at a labour level, taking into account the difficulty of removing the supports without damaging the object in this type of resin, it seemed an unadvisable option. On the other hand, the option of making it in FDM with some flexible material did not seem sensible if we were looking for a clean product that would not give the patient the sensation of being shoddy and would transmit confidence.
The key to the The final success of the project came about in a discussion with our Technology Partner Solitium who invited us to a discussion with a delegate from Formlabs The new TPU Powder, printed with SLS Technology on the Fuse 1 that we used, offered incredible features.
On the one hand, the elasticity, the possibility of contact with the skin and the versatility we already knew about TPU, used previously with FDM Technology. On the other hand, the productivity, precision, finish and the absence of the need to place supports of the SLS Technology. A solution that has impressed us and that we have added as one of the new options to offer to our customers.
The end result is a piece with a perfect finish, flexible and perfectly adaptable to the human anatomy; certified for contact with human skin and with the ease of creating 20 complete kits in just 2 prints. The images speak for themselves.
Conclusion
3D printing is becoming part of our lives in more and more areas, and one of the areas where it has the greatest potential is in helping medical teams to perform surgery before it is actually performed.
Additium3D as an integrated 3D manufacturing solution has experience in different projects related to the medical field. Proof of this is the case that ended successfully both in the modelling from a .DICOM file obtained after an MRI scan of the patient and in the modelling from a .DICOM file obtained after an MRI scan of the patient.The 3D printing in Nylon 12, taking advantage of the possibility of printing without support offered by the SLS Technology.
