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3D printer prosthesis
3D printing prosthetics in 2022: The great revolution
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Contents:
- Introduction
- Overview of 3D printing in the medical sector
- Why is using 3D printing for prosthetics so interesting?
- They used 3D printing to develop prosthetics
- What is next?
Introduction
Overview of 3D printing in the medical sector
The medical sector benefits from the wide range of advantages offered by Additive Manufacturing. Thanks to the mass-customization opportunities and the flexibility of the manufacturing and design processes, 3D printing becomes a real alternative for this sector. In the future, this manufacturing technology could be used to replace human organ transplants, significantly speed-up surgical procedures, but also produce cheaper and more adaptable versions of required surgical tools. Using technology to rethink and improve the way we produce medical devices leads to great opportunities.
This technology can also improve the lives of those reliant on prosthetic limbs. That is a fact, we can notice a growing interest in adapted orthopedic insoles, orthosis, and prosthetics manufactured using additive manufacturing.
Why is using 3D printing for prosthetics so interesting?
Manufacturing prosthetic is expensive
Thanks to the constant evolution of 3D printing technologies, the medical industry is facing new challenges. In its own way, 3D printing is revolutionizing the field of rehabilitative medicine and tackling a particular issue: prosthetics.
According to NGO LIMBS, only 5% of the nearly 40 million amputees in the developing world have access to prosthetic devices or assistance. Many companies such as Unyq are using the advantages of generative design and additive manufacturing to create a brand new approach to prosthetics both in terms of form and functionality. Indeed, some companies are focusing on bringing these advantages to the developing world, to the amputees in environments that lack the medical infrastructure or resources. The goal here is to support the labor-intensive and expensive prospect of traditional prosthetic manufacturing.
Manufacturing adapted and quality devices for amputees is actually a struggle all over the world, as these prosthetics are expensive and most of the time, poorly adapted to the patient’s particularities. New technologies such as this one can also be a major advantage for prosthetists, helping them in the development of customizable prostheses. From the creation of 3D printed prosthetic hands to functional wrists, solutions can be offered with additive manufacturing.
Engineers and researchers are opening new possibilities for prosthetics
Advantages of 3D printing prosthetics
- Innovation: Innovate without worrying about the limitations of traditional manufacturing
Thanks to 3D printers, rapid prototyping has never been so easy. Iterate your ideas and projects faster thanks to this technology. Going further than traditional prosthetics manufacturing will enable great future developments.
- Customization: Create adapted prosthetics
The customization part is the most important argument here. Getting adapted devices and prosthetics will benefit the patients and improve their quality of life during a limb loss. Customizable functional prostheses creation is now possible thanks to 3D printers.
- Cost: Why are 3D printed prosthetics cheaper?
Once again, developing such a complex project as prosthetics is expensive with traditional manufacturing techniques.
Especially if you want to adapt it to the morphology of the patient, additive manufacturing appears to be the most efficient technique to get low-cost prosthetics. It is becoming a life-changing solution to produce prosthetics in areas where the access to such devices is complicated, or impossible.
No minimum of order, no need to build an expensive mold, you only need a 3D file to print your project. Prosthetics are better, and more efficient while custom-made. However, customization is quite expensive with traditional manufacturing.
They used 3D printing to develop prosthetics
Several 3D printed prosthetics projects have already been developed all around the world. See how 3D printing materials and technologies are helping to create functional artificial limbs. Here are a few examples of 3D printed prosthetics:
3D printed prosthetic arm providing feedbacks
Lorenzo Spreafico is a student at the University of Leeds. He created a prosthetic arm with vibrotactile feedback.
The student implemented pressure sensors at the tip of each finger of the prosthesis, this means the amputee can feel when they’re touching something. This prosthetic arm is his final year project in the Product Design bachelors at the University of Leeds in the UK. Thanks to additive manufacturing, Lorenzo Spreafico was able to lower the price of the device! The first prototype, called T1 is under €3,500. The student explains: “There is a huge gap in the development of prostheses: although we are developing extremely advanced technology to simulate human movement and dexterity, there is much less work done when it comes to simulating human touch“. Hand prosthetics
This might not come as a surprise to you, but it is a topic worth mentioning. According to research done by Amputee Coalition, on average there is an amputation done every 30 seconds, and life after such a procedure is hard. But there are people out there using the latest technology innovations to help others. E-nable is a global network of passionate volunteers who help amputees.
Thanks to 3D printing, amputees can have a new E-nable device in a short amount of time. The prosthetic hand is fully customized, matching the limb of the user, costs only a fraction of normal prosthetic costs, and dramatically improves the life of the amputee. Bringing all those aspects together in one product was impossible before Additive Manufacturing. Prosthetics are either cheap, but not functional and not personalized, or personalized and very expensive and they always take a lot of time to produce. 3D printing is truly changing the world of medicine and engineering. Leg prosthetics
Looking absolutely stunning and even impossible Exo by William Root breaks the boundaries of logic. He brings a new level of the esthetics of prostheses. His prosthetic leg is not only beautiful but also fully functional. First of all the designer improved the time-consuming process of manufacturing a prosthesis. Normally, the amputee had to have a mold done of his limb, then a cast was made, vacuum form, check for fit, assembly, and then adjustments were done.
Of course, the tedious process has to be repeated again until the fit is just right. When it comes to 3D printing, you scan the limb, adjust the 3D model, and then print the design. Simple, fast, and effective. And in addition to that, it is beautiful. The prosthesis can be fully customized for the user, comfortable, and expressing their character. Hero Arm
Hero Arm is a project developed by Open Bionics, who aims to turn disabilities into superpowers with 3D printed bionic arms for children and adults. Using Selective Laser Sintering 3D printing, with Nylon PA12, they develop prosthetics covers inspired by superheroes such as Iron Man, or fictional universes such as Star-Wars or Frozen.Manufacturing prosthetics in remote areas
Guillermo Martínez is the founder of Ayúdame3D, he went from building robots to building prosthetics hands. At first, it was just for fun, and now, Guillermo Martínez helps people in Kenya by developing prosthetic limbs helping amputees living a more normal life.
The founder explains : “I went there, tested out the prostheses, and saw that people were getting to grips with it quickly after using it. It felt great. I considered stopping there, but I loved the feeling of being able to help others so much that I decided to start Ayúdame3D.” (Source Business Insider) Resources in Kenya are limited, Guillermo Martinez managed to create hands costing only $50 thanks to 3D printing. Millie: the first-ever dog with a 3D printed prosthetic leg in Australia
People are not the only ones whose lives changed thanks to Additive Manufacturing. We already talked about a few animals such as a penguin and a duck with a prosthesis, now it’s time for Millie, the greyhound from Australia. She’s a rescue dog, which was kicked out because of a bad paw. Unfortunately, professional prosthetics cost 10 000$ and they are not as personalized. The owners turned to Autodesk, a leader in 3D modeling and CAD software. With Fusion 360 they designed a new, ideally-fitting prosthesis and then 3D printed it.
Most of all, 3D printed prosthesis matches exactly the needs of Mille and her limb. It doesn’t cause her any discomfort and allows her to play and be a happy pup. It was also a quick process, and on top of everything was much cheaper.What is next?
The future of 3D printed prosthetics
It is definitely bright! As you’ve seen in this article, the presented examples show how beneficial Additive Manufacturing is to the medical industry. 3D printing prosthetics are cheaper by thousands of dollars. They are also much more comfortable, fitting exactly the limb, not causing pain to the user, and they are highly customized. This level of personalization has never been achievable before.
Do you have a prosthetics manufacturing project?
Using an online service bureau such as Sculpteo, there is no minimum order quantity, from a single object to 10 000+ parts, you can 3D print the exact amount of parts you need. With 10+ years of expertise in additive manufacturing for production and prototyping, Sculpteo is also offering rigorous quality control.
With our online 3D printing service, you get professional 3D printing at your fingertips with +75 materials and finishes to develop your most ambitious projects, such as prosthetics. We’ll take care of the rest in our industrial ISO 9001 factory.
Upload your 3D file and get your free instant quote!
Any question? Feel free to contact us to discuss your project, our 3D printing expert are here to help you develop your project.
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Enabling The Future – A Global Network Of Passionate Volunteers Using 3D Printing To Give The World A "Helping Hand."
What is e-NABLE?
e-NABLE is an online global community of “Digital Humanitarian” volunteers from all over the world who are using their 3D printers to make free and low-cost prosthetic upper limb devices for children and adults in need.
The open-source designs created by e-NABLE Volunteers help those who were born missing their fingers and hands or who have lost them due to war, natural disaster, illness or accidents.
There are approximately 40,000 e-NABLE volunteers in over 100 countries who have delivered free hands and arms to an estimated 10,000-15,000 recipients through collaboration and open-source design to help those in underserved communities who have little to no access to medical care. Our volunteers are working hard to “Give the World a Helping Hand” and would love to have you join us!
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3D printing in prosthetics - Center for 3D printing and prototyping
3D printing prosthetics3D printing in prosthetics
3D printer is a universal peripheral device with which you can create various physical objects of almost any orientation. Thanks to layered technology, the device allows you to print three-dimensional objects from various types of plastic, metal, plaster, etc. Recent discoveries have led to the fact that the printer for creating three-dimensional models began to be used in prosthetics. Although the direction itself is not new: prostheses printed in this way have already been used in dentistry.
The device allows you to easily print the missing body part from a convenient and environmentally friendly material. Developments in this area were carried out for more than one year. The main goal of the researchers was to learn how to create an ideal prosthesis that will fit in all respects, including comfort and appearance.
The need for a perfect prosthesis
An ideal prosthesis is one that will provide functionality to the missing limb without looking intimidating. Printing prostheses on a 3D printer has many advantages. One of the indisputable advantages is the speed of printing. Compared to the conventional process, the time that specialists spend on making a prosthesis using a 3D printer is much less. In addition, this approach also makes it possible to reduce the cost of manufacturing products. This is because the amount of manual labor is significantly reduced.
Features of prostheses created on the printer
Of course, such prostheses differ from the usual ones in many ways.
If this is a high-quality product, then the process of its manufacture has certain difficulties, because the design itself is a complex mechanism, which is usually assembled by hand after manufacture. Modern possibilities make it possible to create not only reliable prostheses, but also durable ones. In addition, the decisive factor is the appearance. To do this, specialists need a digital layout in which they need to accurately prescribe the necessary parameters. Only in this way will an ideal prosthesis be created that maximally repeats the anatomy of the human body. To analyze physical data, a 3D scanner can be used, and based on the data obtained, create the prosthesis itself already on the printer.
Finally, we can highlight the main advantages of prostheses created on a 3D printer.
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Benefits of 3D printed prostheses
- Price;
- Strength;
- Appearance;
- Manufacturing speed;
The cost of high-quality prostheses used in medicine is quite high, but further development of this direction will make it possible to make products more massive and significantly reduce their price. The price of domestic prostheses printed on a 3D printer is much lower than their foreign counterparts, which makes it possible for a middle-income family to purchase them.
9Ol000 footwear productionDo you think a prosthesis printed on a 3D printer can fully perform the necessary functions?
Maybe
Can not
Related videos:
3D printing of individual prostheses
Implementation stories
Medicine
Author: Semyon Popadyuk
Author: Semyon Popadyuk
The possibilities of additive technologies are invaluable for medicine: among other things, 3D printers make it possible to create highly precise and complex shapes for the development of prostheses that fully comply with the anatomical features of the patient.
Let's consider two cases from surgical practice, when 3D printing helped patients to restore their health and return to normal life.
Using 3D Printing to Repair a Complex Postoperative Defect
A few years after shoulder arthroplasty on the left scapula, a 64-year-old man still had serious complaints. He suffered from a type II central defect with atypical ossification around the glenoid. Prof. Stefan Neiss, Head of the Department of Traumatology at the Leuven University Hospital (Belgium), took up this case and performed a revision surgery. Given the complexity and unusual size of the defect in the patient's humerus, Dr. Neiss decided to work with Materialize's experts and use the Glenius prosthesis. He performed the operation in two stages, first removing the previous prosthesis and placing a spacer, and then installing the Glenius prosthesis.
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Successful operation
The two-stage operation went smoothly and according to plan.
There were no incidents during the removal of the components. It took about an hour to remove the spacer, clean the area, and take a tissue sample to rule out infections, after which the operating team was ready to place the prosthesis. The insertion of the prosthesis also went well due to its compactness and the appropriate size of the incision.
Customized medical templates helped determine the right location. Professor Neiss rechecked the correct position of the prosthesis by testing it on a bone model. He then quickly set the prosthesis into position despite the smooth surface of the defect. Finally, he tightened the screws using 3D printed guides. Before installing the screws, the depth of the holes was checked. Four screws were placed as intended, but the fifth was difficult due to unstable anchorage to the second outer layer of bone. However, by correctly predicting the length of the previous screws, Neiss used the same length for the fifth screw.
Shoulder model and guides on the operating table
The placement and fixation of the glenoid lining took about 20 minutes - 10 minutes less than expected.
The operating team removed the guides and set about preparing the humerus for sawing. To restore the normal situation, a significant part of it had to be removed. For the prosthesis, a one-piece stem was used in conjunction with a thin (3 mm) and highly movable liner. After a trial restoration of the normal position, a cobalt-chromium alloy glenosphere was installed. All components were installed approximately 2 hours after the start of the operation.
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The value of individual solutions
As already mentioned, 3D printing allows the production of precise and complex shapes and is therefore optimal for the design of individual components. In addition, it makes it possible to create fragile porous structures, which is an important feature of the Glenius prosthesis. The plastic models and guides that were used during this operation were printed from polyamide using selective laser sintering (SLS) and the metal prosthesis was made using selective laser melting (SLM).
Depuy Synthes Delta Xtend components were used for the humeral stem and liner.
Neiss really liked the extra support on the back of the drill guide and how smooth the operation went. Customized instruments designed for glenoid prosthetics have made it possible to accurately execute the 3D preoperative plan.
A postoperative report, one and a half years after the procedure, showed that the prosthesis and screws were still in proper position. There are only minor differences between the planned position and orientation and the actual result.
To date, there have been no further revisions. Almost two years after the second operation, the patient is still satisfied. Shoulder mobility improved and the patient regained independence.
81-year-old patient enjoys life again after hip surgery
aMace custom prosthesis used for surgery
The 81-year-old patient suffered from a Paprosky Type 3B acetabular defect and had already undergone several revision surgeries before being referred to Orthopedic Surgeon Douglas Dunlop, FRC, Emeritus Professor of Orthopedics at the University of Southampton.
This is not the only such case. The combined registry data shows that 27% of audits are repetitive and fail three times as often as initial audits.
This patient's previous revision reconstructions (cemented polyethylene liner with cranial metal mesh) had failed due to calyx loosening and displacement to the posterior cranial region. This has resulted in bone loss, especially in the posterior cranial region, which complicates acetabular repair.
Everyone who knows my father and knows how weakened he was before the operation is amazed at the transformation: he seemed to be 20 years younger and regained his independence. As his daughter, I am very pleased to see him enjoying life again.
Benefits of 3D planning and 3D printing of the hip prosthesis
Materialize offers 3D printing software and services, including the development of custom prosthetics such as aMace. aMace allows you to take into account all the medical features of the patient and the complex mechanical requirements for this important moving part of the human body.
The complex porous structure of the posterior part of the aMace prosthesis, which allows for bone ingrowth, is another feature that can be easily reproduced with 3D printing.
It all starts with a CT scan. It allows you to plan the operation correctly, up to the definition of specific fixation points. Each Materialize aMace prosthesis comes with a detailed 3D analysis. Careful planning, along with templates and models, will help to ensure a successful operation.
Set with a model of an individual hip prosthesis used for a patient
Quality of care improved with custom hip replacement
In collaboration with Materialise clinical engineers, Dunlop was able to carefully plan the operation ahead of time and design the aMace hip prosthesis, custom 3D printed to match the defect. Thanks to this, the prosthesis helped to achieve the desired degree of recovery and fixation. Before the operation, the plastic bone model and the trial sample of the prosthesis served as a guide for the surgeon in preparing the operating room and the correct position of the prosthesis.
Guides were used to place the screws according to the plan. The prosthesis helped to restore the center of rotation to the desired location and orientation, and also provided sufficient support despite the limited amount of bone material (especially in the posterior cranial region). After the operation, a plastic model of the bone was given to the patient, who told his friends and family about the operation.
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Additional advantages of the solution were the planning and custom shape, which helped to achieve stability after reconstructive surgery, even taking into account the absence of bone material in the anterior cranial region. This approach resulted in a successful revision surgery and a satisfied patient who, according to his daughter, became independent of outside help again: “My father's quality of life has improved to an incredible degree. He said that even if he won the lottery for a huge amount, he would not be so happy!”
Research by Mr.
