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At this week’s AOPA Nationwide Meeting, multinational printing agency HP introduced new healthcare 3D printing case research, alongside plans for a fabric set to be launched later this yr.
Lengthy related to industrial prototyping, HP’s newest efforts present how its additive manufacturing experience is being examined as a software for quicker and extra accessible affected person care.
Named HP 3D HR PA 11 Gen2, the forthcoming materials gives as much as 80% powder reusability, which HP says can minimize half prices by as a lot as 40% in contrast with earlier variations whereas delivering the bottom carbon footprint but on its Multi Jet Fusion (MJF) platform. Though aimed toward orthotic and prosthetic (O&P) units, it’s also being positioned for industrial and automotive parts that require power and adaptability.
Attendees noticed an illustration of the complete digital workflow, protecting limb scanning, design, printing, post-processing, and affected person becoming. The session featured particular instruments and companions, together with Construction’s scanning system, Leopoly design software program, HP’s MJF printing by way of Endeavor3D, post-processing with DyeMansion, and scientific becoming with enter from Hanger Clinic.
Leveraging Multi Jet Fusion in healthcare
Alongside the product announcement, HP highlighted how its MJF know-how is being utilized to affected person care, notably in underserved areas. In Kenya, it partnered with the nonprofit Limb Sort Basis to offer 5 sockets for youngsters by way of a totally digital workflow.
Native hospitals carried out 3D scans, which have been despatched to design groups in the USA. Inside 48 hours, the sockets have been printed and shipped again, reducing greater than 24 hours from the everyday turnaround time.
“This undertaking confirmed us what’s attainable when compassion meets innovation,” stated Robert Schulman, Founding father of Limb Sort Basis. “What excites us most is the potential to supply a considerably higher variety of prostheses in a a lot shorter timeframe, permitting us to assist extra kids than ever earlier than. It’s extra than simply pace, it’s about restoring mobility, dignity, and pleasure.”
Inspired by that pilot, the crew expanded the mannequin to Sri Lanka this summer season, the place ten kids obtained sockets produced by way of the identical course of. Native clinicians have been skilled as a part of the deployment, with the objective of constructing lasting capability reasonably than counting on exterior help.
Again residence, VA Puget Sound clinicians lately produced a transtibial prosthetic socket solely in-house by way of the VA’s X_Labs program, working with HP and design agency Radii Units. The machine was refined in actual time with affected person and scientific suggestions earlier than being manufactured in a sturdy, bio-compatible polymer.
VA officers describe it as the primary totally in-house definitive 3D printed socket within the system, created by way of a workflow that built-in anatomical information, customized design, and post-processing. They see the undertaking as a possible mannequin for different clinics looking for quicker manufacturing and extra personalised rehabilitation.
In accordance with the multinational agency, its know-how delivers constant outcomes with much less waste and allows lighter, extra breathable units, a key consider pediatric care. Past sockets, it’s already getting used to supply scoliosis braces, cranial orthoses, ankle-foot helps, and prosthetic arms.
3D printing in O&P sector
Additive manufacturing has broadened entry to O&P units, enabling the speedy manufacturing of custom-made designs that enhance match, perform, and adaptableness in contrast with conventional fabrication strategies.
Earlier this yr, researchers from Johns Hopkins College (JHU), Florida Atlantic College, and the College of Illinois Chicago created a hybrid prosthetic hand that blends tender robotic joints with inflexible 3D printed buildings to offer each flexibility and power.
Its fingertips comprise multilayered sensors modeled on human pores and skin, capable of detect contact, vibrations, and slipping objects with outstanding precision. Utilizing neuromorphic encoding to course of these indicators, the hand distinguished 26 textures with 98.38% accuracy and recognized 15 widespread objects with 99.69% accuracy in exams, considerably outperforming standard tender or inflexible prosthetic designs.
Final yr, Eqwal’s digital arm Qwadra partnered with Denmark’s Create it REAL to deliver Programmable Foam know-how to its Sona Flex and Sona Edge 3D printers. The mixing lets clinicians modify rigidity, flexibility, and foam density inside a single machine, enabling manufacturing of orthopedic units and different helps with a extra personalised match.
Past bettering consolation and therapeutic outcomes, the strategy is designed to chop waste and help recycling, combining precision manufacturing with a push towards extra sustainable orthotic manufacturing.
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Featured picture reveals Quorum Quatro prosthetic socket. Picture by way of HP.