WITHIN developed the software, which is free to download here. It can help create customized products that improve osseointegration or bone growth. The AM technology is direct metal laser sintering, or DMLS, and is designed to be used by medical, surgical, and orthopedic designers and manufacturers.
“With this program, companies now have the opportunity to explore the benefits that designing for DMLS can bring to their medical products – without investing in their own laser-sintering system,” John Halverson, medical business unit manager at C&A Tool, explained. “Through this technology, they’ll be able to discover firsthand how DMLS reduces manufacturing steps, improves product performance and allows them to tailor medical products to individual patient needs.”
In traditional medical manufacturing the smooth, rough, and porous surfaces required for successful implantation are accomplished exclusively through secondary finishing – for instance, using machining along with plasma spraying or hand-sintering beads. DMLS eliminates many of these additional processes by creating the necessary mix of surfaces as it builds the part layer by layer.
WITHIN Medical also allows engineers to design patient-matched spinal reconstructions, acetabular cups, tibial trays, and other parts from MRI or CT scan data.
C&A Tool has invested in six EOS DMLS systems (both EOSINT M 270 and M 280). For orthopedic applications, the systems use biocompatible materials, such as medical-grade titanium (Ti64) cobalt-chrome, and stainless steel alloys. "WITHIN Medical design software is free, easy to use and offers a high level of design control,” Kaveh Mahdavi, project manager at WITHIN, stated. “When developing WITHIN Medical, we focused on the end-to-end solution, everything from design to manufacturing to validation. When coupled with additive manufacturing, the quality is superior to any existing products on the market."
