Additive manufacturing (3D printing) is becoming increasingly important, especially in the medical environment. However, the high regulatory requirements for products used in a medical context pose particular challenges for the production process and the design guidelines for the products.

This starts with the acquisition or generation of 3D data. Here too, patient safety must be absolutely paramount. Such data can be generated from CT or MRI data as well as from CAD design programmes. Any further processing, storage and modification is subject to strict regulations.

Additive manufacturing must guarantee dimensional accuracy and precision as well as reproducibility and medical regulations.

The subsequent post-processing, i.e. the final revision of the resulting products, must not jeopardise the previously maintained quality class.

As diverse as the areas of application for additively manufactured objects in medicine are, so too are the requirements for the respective production processes.

How these processes interact in detail and how the individual work steps have to be defined is a central component of research at the Experimental Orthopedics department at the UKM.

An excerpt from the possible areas of application:

• Models for patient education
• Models for teaching
• Models as a decision-making aid for therapies
• Support, transport or positioning systems
• Models for interoperative support
• Drilling and cutting templates
• Orthoses and orthopedic components
• Medical instruments
• Implants

These additive manufacturing technologies are available to the researchers:

• FFF & CFR (Fused Filament Fabrication & Continuous Fiber Reinforcement)
• SLA & DLP (Stereolithography & Digital Light Processing)
• SLS (Selective Laser Sintering)