WASHINGTON (Dispatches)-A new advancement in 3D printing technology developed at the University of Florida has provided millions of people with significantly quicker implantation of devices that are stronger, less expensive, more flexible and more comfortable than anything currently available.
In a paper published in the journal Science Advances, researchers lay out the process they developed for using 3D printing and soft silicone to manufacture data-x-items that millions of patients use: ports for draining bodily fluids, implantable bands, balloons, soft catheters, slings and meshes.
Currently, such devices are molded, which could take days or weeks to create customized parts designed to fit an individual patient. The 3D printing method cuts that time to hours, potentially saving lives. What's more, extremely small and complex devices, such as drainage tubes containing pressure-sensitive valves, simply cannot be molded in one step.
"Our new material provides support for the liquid silicone as it is 3D printing, allowing us create very complex structures and even encapsulated parts out of silicone elastomer," said lead author Christopher O'Bryan, a mechanical and aerospace engineering doctoral student in UF's Herbert Wertheim College of Engineering and lead author on the paper.
It also could pave the way for new therapeutic devices that encapsulate and control the release of drugs or small molecules for guiding tissue regeneration or assisting diseased organs such as the pancreas or prostate.