Nexa3D and Henkel announce the premiere of new medical grade material

The range of medical supplies is constantly expanding. Companies compete in creating newer and more innovative plastics that can be in direct contact with human tissues. Nexa3D and Henkel collaborate to develop a new medical grade material with properties similar to polypropylene.

Nexa3D, a manufacturer of ultra-fast SLA 3D printers, and Henkel, a German chemical company, have developed the new xMED412 material, which is suitable for SLA additive manufacturing and is highly biocompatible. As a result, it can be used in the production of medical devices.

It is worth mentioning that this is the second material resulting from the cooperation of these two companies. In April this year. The market premiere of ABS material for use in the industrial sector has been announced. Meanwhile, the medical material XMed412 is based on the Loctite MED412 material, so it is characterized by durability and mechanical strength. In addition, it has excellent tensile and compressive strength. Like MED412, the polymer resin has all the necessary tests and certificates for medical materials.

XMed412 has been approved for the production of swabs in accordance with the applicable ISO 10993 standards and the FDA’s standards for class I materials. During the COVID-19 pandemic, Nexa3D used this photopolymer to produce as many as 5,400 swabs per day using the NXE400 printer. This made it possible to meet the demand for this equipment in the United States. Nexa3D in collaboration with Henkel has developed a material that will be ideal for the production of orthoses, respirator components, diving equipment and sports masks.

According to Nexa3D’s COO Izhar Medalsy, the company is excited to bring another photopolymer material to market in collaboration with Henkel. The creation of a medical grade material is of particular importance in times of a pandemic. It gives many possibilities of using it in medical devices and personal protection products. As Izhar Medalsy adds, the cooperation is to create a whole range of high-performance photopolymer materials, optimized for production on the NXE400 3D printer.

The material has been tested under many operating conditions in order to use the full working potential of the NXE400 3D printer, and to obtain the best physical properties and biocompatibility of xMED412. The swabs manufactured with the xMED412 on the NXE400 printer in accordance with ISO standards and FDA requirements for class I materials, have already been approved in clinical trials.

The period of the COVID-19 pandemic has brought many innovations in the field of 3D printing and new materials used in additive manufacturing. The cooperation of Nexa3D and Henkel has resulted in new production solutions for the growing demand for medical equipment, and this is not the end. What will the next months of collaboration between these two companies bring?