By Chris Danek, Bessel and Trion Concepts
3D printing has long been a staple for rapid prototyping of medical devices. Recent advances in additive manufacturing with resin cure systems have greatly expanded the capabilities available — in many cases, right on the R&D engineer’s desktop.
We now have resins that behave similarly to engineering thermoplastics like ABS, polycarbonate and even elastomeric materials. And print speeds and resolutions have increased dramatically.
Together, these advanced materials and improved printing mean resin printers can produce highly functional parts and high-fidelity prototypes to iterate designs for short-run production and as a bridge to injection-molded tools. Let’s explore how medical device manufacturers are using these advancements to innovate the traditional design and production process.
Using…