Arburg Plastic Freeforming is predestined for the additive manufacturing of medtech components. The associated Freeformer-type additive manufacturing systems process the same plastic pellets that are used in injection molding. That makes the open systems very economical to use.

In the AKF process, resorbable original materials such a plate-implants similar to bone, can be manufactured. They are gradually replaced by endogenous tissue

Medical Product Manufacturers Are Processing Original Materials Using the Freeformer

Anlagen Additive Fertigung / 3D-Druck, andere

Anlagen für die Additive Fertigung

Biokunststoffe

Kunststoff Werkstoffe

Additive Fertigung

Medizintechnik

Medizinprodukte

Werkstoffe für additive Verfahren

Andere Werkstoffe

Arburg Kunststoff Freiformen

Verfahren für die additive Fertigung

Freiraumverfahren

New Possibilities for Use  in the Human Body

Molds for orthoses are usually machined. That is not optimal – neither for the patient nor for the manufacturer. Within the scope of a study, Lehmann & Voss therefore investigated whether 3D printing is an alternative – both ecologically and economically.

3D-printed laminating standard for the production of CFRP orthoses.

16:9

Molds for Orthoses

Polyethylenterephthalat

Thermoplaste

Technische Kunststoffe

3D-Printed, Not Machined

Due to its high-performing properties polyetheretherketone thermoplastic polymer is being used more and more frequently in many products.

PEEK can replace fluoropolymers in cryogenic applications. Advanced Engineering Valves uses PEEK from Victrex for sealings in ball valves

Polyetheretherketone (PEEK)

Elektronik-Fertigung

Elektronik

Polyetherketon

Mikroelektronik

Kunststoff

Bauwesen

Baustoffe

Hochleistungskunststoffe

Delivering Efficiency Even in  Harsh Environments

Styrenics can be polymerized using different technologies and it can be modified with a range of copolymers. The resulting plastics offer a wide range of properties allowing to customize them for different applications. Because of this range of properties they are suitable for many industries. Strong demand is for example driven by the automotive industry, healthcare and the packaging industry.

Styrene copolymers are frequently used in the exterior of vehicles. The Chinese manufacturer Lixiang, for example, uses an ASA for the radiator grill of its electric vehicles

Styrenic Polymers

Verpackungsmaterial

Logistik

Automotive

Polystyrol

Styrol-Copolymerisate

Diverse Shapes and Applications

Lightweight construction, functionality and design are characteristic of material development in all areas of application for PC compounds, composites and films. The range of materials has enormous opportunities when it comes to the mobility of the future, lightweight structural construction with continuous fiber-reinforced composites, 5G technology and medical technology.

In electric vehicles, the original function of the radiator grille, namely to supply air to the engine, is no longer needed. It can therefore be used entirely as a design element, for example by integrating luminous logos and fade-out effects

Polycarbonate (PC)

Recycling

Umweltmanagement

Kunststoff-Recycling

Kunststoffverarbeitung: Verfahren

Kunststoff-Aufbereitung

Polycarbonat

Present in a Multitude of Trends

In the production of plastic parts for the medical and pharmaceutical industry, the requirements for cleanroom environments are becoming increasingly stringent. In this area, not only the demand for all-electric injection molding machines is increasing. There is also an increasing use of electric drives for the implementation of mold movements, which meet the high requirements for cleanliness and reliability.

Fig. 1. Solutions for electrical mold movements, for example a 72+72 cavity stack mold for the closing cone production

Electrical Drives in Injection Molds

Elektrische Antriebe

Antriebe

Spritzgießen

Spritzgießwerkzeuge

Kunststoffverarbeitung: Maschinen und Komponenten

Werkzeuge für die Kunststoffverarbeitung

Mess- / Regel- und Prozessleittechnik

Prozessautomation

Mess-, Steuer- und Regelgeräte

Qualitätssicherung

Qualitätssicherung Kunststoff

Reinraumsysteme / -technik

Mold Technology

Housings not only protect the inner workings of medical equipment, but also protect patients from electric shocks, for example. This function is very important for the increasingly widespread medical wearables, which are often in constant contact with the patient. When designing such devices, it is therefore important to select the appropriate housing material.

Housings play an important role in medical wearables. They protect their inner workings, but at the same time protect the users of the devices

Materials for Medical Wearable Housings

Gehäuse aus Kunststoff

Elektromechanik

Kühlkörper

Protection and Attractive Design

A Polish pharmaceutical company is developing inhalation therapy for the treatment of lung disease and the appropriate drug delivery drug. The inhaler has a complex interior and consists of 14 components. In order to be able to produce these with the required precision, Celon Pharma has formed a partnership with the mold making company Glittenberg and its hot runner sister Witosa.

For its complex functional mechanism, the inhaler requires 14 components

Glittenberg Supplies Tools for Vital Medical Devices to Celon Pharma

Heißkanalsysteme

Komponenten für die Kunststoffverarbeitung

Plastic in the Service of Medicine

Italy‘s RadiciGroup is investing EUR 15 million in a new plant for the production of meltblown nonwovens. The Group‘s strategic decision is intended to make the Italian supply chain for the base material for protective masks more autonomous.

Kunststoffverarbeitung allgemein

Kunststoffverarbeitung

Gewebe, technisch

Halbzeuge und Zwischenprodukte

Kunststoff-Halbzeuge

Unternehmen

kunststoffe.de

Invest in a New Production Line for Meltblown Nonwoven

Thermoplastic compounds with integrated electrical conductivity offer a potential solution to resolve EMI, EMS and electrostatic discharge challenges. These thermoplastic materials can deliver the appropriate level of electromagnetic shielding for electronics, while providing freedom to design complex geometries and opportunities to streamline processing by avoiding secondary operations.

SEM analysis illustrates inferior dispersal (above) and good dispersion (bottom) of conductive fibers in molded polycarbonate parts. The distribution can be optimized by appropriate processing parameters and injection molding machines (PC resin)

Ensure the Electromagnetic Compatibility of Wireless Devices with Special Plastics

Compound

Kunststoff-Erzeugung

Well Protected against  Electromagnetic Interference

A project managed by AIMPLAS has developed a new process for producing rapid COVID-19 tests. The test can detect antibodies, with a sensitivity of over 98%.

AIMPLAS develops rapid antibody test that is more sensitive than commercial tests in detecting immunity to SARS-CoV-2 and UK variant

Technik Trend

kunststoffe-international.com

Dienstleistungen

Lohnfertigung

AIMPLAS Develops Rapid Antibody Test

The consumables required for In-vitro diagnostics are manufactured in a production process that is subject to high requirements in terms of precision and quality, but also the complex cleanroom manufacturing environment. This has implications for the entire plant technology – especially toolmaking.

64-cavity tool for pipette tips. The hot runner system is balanced across all cavities

Strategic Approach through Classification according to Product Groups

Werkzeug- und Formenbau

Werkzeug-, Formen- und Modellbau

Mold Platforms for IVD Consumables

Pipette tips feature a challenging wall thickness/length ratio, an inner geometry that is key for analysis results, and a tip opening just a few tenths of a millimeter wide. They have been in extremely high demand during the coronavirus pandemic, which is why the mold construction and hot runner specialist Männer has developed a mold with an innovative cluster concept.

At the Männer test center in Bahlingen, Germany: an injection mold for manufacturing pipette tips, shown here in operation. Automation of the system is currently being set up

Pipette Tips: Männer Presents a Mold with Replaceable Clusters

Maintenance During (Nearly)  Uninterrupted Production

Space-saving machine concepts for demanding production environments are booming. A real-life example of a slit micro-membrane for pharmaceutical glass vials shows how intelligent machine functions make an important contribution to supporting machine operators and continuous documentation of the production process.

Injection molding and slitting of an LSR membrane for a glass-vial closure for pharmaceutical products make high demands on precision

KraussMaffei Delivers a Customized Solution for LSR Processing

Automatisierungszellen

Automatisierungstechnik

Mikrospritzgießen

Silikonkautschuk

Kautschuk / Elastomere

Transparency in Production

RKT has been manufacturing plastic products for medical and industrial technology for 45 years. Discs for the rapid analysis of multi-resistant hospital germs are a lighthouse project within the sophisticated product portfolio.

 A six-axis robot picks the molded parts out of the mold under an inert gas atmosphere and conveys them into the cleanroom for further processing and packaging

High-Tech Production of Life-Saving Disks for Fast Analysis of Dangerous Germs

An All-Round Winner

3D Printing Enables Tissue with Customized Shape

3D-printed chambers with personalized shapes will be used to grow transplantable, autologous tissue that can take the shape of a wound to be closed, for example.

In the case of serious soft tissue injuries, tissue transplantation is sometimes unavoidable. For the patient, however, this means a serious intervention. In the future, the missing tissue could grow directly in the patient’s body – in isolation chambers that can be implanted under the skin and individually adapted to the wound geometry.

If structures such as bones, vessels or tendons are exposed in the patient, tissue transplantation with perfused tissue is often the only option. For the patient, this is associated with an operation lasting several hours and with injury to the body’s own healthy tissue. Scientists are therefore developing tissue-conserving methods for generating perfused tissue grafts to replace skin and other tissue in a targeted manner. For example, collagen-lined isolation chambers made of teflon could be sewn under the skin and an artery or vein could be looped into them. Through cell migration and ingrowth of vessels, the collagen is finally transformed into transplantable tissue within two to four weeks. This is a minor procedure for which local anesthesia is sufficient. In contrast to tissue grown in a petri dish, the tissue created in the chamber is fully vascularized – i.e., interspersed with capillaries – and thus supplied with blood. This means that a lively connective tissue is created that adopts the shape of the isolation chamber and is suitable for transplantation without having to sacrifice healthy donor tissue. Another advantage: since the tissue is produced by the patient’s body, rejection reactions are avoided.

Researchers at the Fraunhofer IAP are currently evaluating and optimizing this technique in the BMBF-funded FlexLoop project (grant number 03VP05962) – together with the Fraunhofer ILT and the BG Klinik Ludwigshafen – Clinic for Plastic and Reconstructive Surgery at Heidelberg University. “Whereas previously only round isolation chambers were used for tissue engineering, for the first time we can adapt the shape of the isolation chambers to the shape of the patient’s soft tissue defect, thus further advancing the personalization and individualization of medicine,” says Dr. Wolfdietrich Meyer, project manager at Fraunhofer IAP. This is enabled by 3D printing, which is intended to replace the previous milling of the chambers. Since the conventional chamber material Teflon cannot be printed, the experts at Fraunhofer ILT are relying on photo resins for this purpose. “3D printing not only offers the advantage of being able to specify the shape of the tissue, we have also developed chamber designs that make tissue cultivation as comfortable as possible for patients and allow easy handling during surgery,” explains Andreas Hoffmann, project manager at Fraunhofer ILT.

Application Maturity Still Needs Several Years

The researchers at the Fraunhofer IAP are testing both the material itself and the differently shaped isolation chambers. Finally, the isolation chamber must not release any degradation products into the patient’s body or lead to rejection reactions, so it must be biocompatible. How durable is the material in the human organism? Does it change, for example, when it is brought to body temperature? The initial results look promising. As far as the entire isolation chambers are concerned, the mechanical properties are the main focus. This is because the chambers are sutured to the surrounding tissue or implanted under the skin at a site close to the defect: Here, for example, no cracks may form in the chamber for safe application.

The physicians at BG Klinik Ludwigshafen, in turn, are investigating whether the regrowing tissue can also completely fill complexly shaped isolation chambers. “Our main aim is to show that we can grow shapable tissue in the 3D-printed chambers, which in turn – like a kind of puzzle piece – can completely close a complex soft tissue defect. In addition, the biomechanical quality of the tissue grown is closely examined,” explains Dr. med. Florian Falkner, assistant physician for plastic and reconstructive surgery at BG Klinik Ludwigshafen. However, it will take a few more years of development before this form of tissue cultivation is ready for clinical application as a routine procedure.

Fraunhofer IAP Institut Angewandte Polymerforschung

https://www.iap.fraunhofer.de/

In the future, 3D-printed chambers with personalized shapes will be used to grow transplantable, autologous tissue that can take the shape of a wound to be closed, for example.

2022-02-02 Fraunhofer IAP Technik Trend

issue 02/2023

issue 01/2023

issue 09/2022

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