Arburg will present solutions for the medical industry at Formnext, including 3D printing from certified medical PEEK

Arburg – a leading manufacturer of injection molding systems in Europe, which has been developing its own proprietary 3D printing systems based on pure granules instead of filaments for nearly 9 years, will present a wide range of applications that can be performed on Freeformer 3D printers at the Formnext trade fair next week. One of the key presentations will be related to the production of implants made of medical grade PEEK material.

PEEK (polyetheretherketon) is one of the plastics most interesting and desired by the medical industry. During the Formnext trade fair, which begins next week in Frankfurt am Main, the Arburg Freeformer 300-3X 3D printer will print 3D models made of medical grade PEEK. The device uses pure granules at work, which are melted and sprayed onto the worktable in the form of small drops, creating spatial structures with the incremental method.

The material used will be Vestakeep i2 G, which is an original plastic granulate produced by Arburg’s partner, Evonik. They are successfully used, for example, for the production of non-standard facial bone implants. This material is certified for the production of permanent medical implants.

Another application for the medical sector will be demonstrated in the area of ​​composite materials. As part of the project implemented with the University Hospital in Basel, which uses the Arburg 200-3X 3D printer, the stand will present implants with the resorbable resomer of the LR 706 implant – a composite of poly L-lactide-co-D, L-lactide and ß-TCP by Evonik, which additionally contains 30% of ceramic additives. This material combination makes the implants more stable and releases calcium to stimulate bone growth.

Source: www.formnext.mesago.com