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Rapid prototyping of molds for the encapsulation of electronic implants using additive manufacturing
Citation Link: https://doi.org/10.15480/882.13295
Publikationstyp
Journal Article
Date Issued
2024-09-09
Sprache
English
Author(s)
Department of Trauma and Orthopaedic Surgery, Sports Traumatology, BG Klinikum Hamburg
TORE-DOI
Volume
6
Issue
1
Start Page
1
End Page
8
Article Number
1858
Citation
Transactions on Additive Manufacturing Meets Medicine 6 (1): 1858 (2024)
Publisher DOI
Publisher
Infinite Science Publishing
Peer Reviewed
true
Designing encapsulations for medical implants with integrated electronics is very challenging because a solution for several different and partly opposing requirements like biocompatibility, low water permeability, mechanical stability and small dimensions has to be found. This work focusses on epoxy encapsulations, which are conventionally cast using silicone molds. For making these molds, a pattern has to be CNC machined and the silicone mold has to be cast from it. In this paper, a rapid prototyping method is proposed, which uses additively manufactured molds made by an inkjet 3D printer that operates with a silicone-based material. A proof of concept is presented for an electronic osteosynthesis implant, which is successfully encapsulated following the rapid prototyping method and compared to results obtained with the conventional method. The demonstrator was immersed in isotonic saline solution for three weeks without any negative effects on the functionality. The rapid prototyping approach required only 15% of the time needed by the conventional mold making process based on silicone casting and used less material. This shortens design cycles for the optimization of the encapsulation for electronic implants and enables to evaluate more design variations with little additional effort. Moreover, designs with more degrees of freedom are available in the additive manufacturing process. For casting the encapsulation, the same material as for the final implant can be used so that many properties like water permeability and mechanical stability can be evaluated in the early development phase.
Subjects
additively manufactured molds
epoxy casting
implant encapsulation
osteosynthesis
DDC Class
610: Medicine, Health
621: Applied Physics
006: Special computer methods
Publication version
publishedVersion
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Rapid prototyping of molds for the encapsulation of electronic implants using additive manufacturing, Adam, 2024.pdf
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