Evonik Company Creates 3D Printed Filaments for Medical Purposes

The German chemical company Evonik has announced the launch of its new 3D printing biomaterial. Designed specifically for medical applications, VESTAKEEP Care M40 3DF filament is safe for body contact for up to 30 days. The high performance engineering material can be 3D printed using any common high temperature 3D printer that can normally process the material this filament is made from. With this launch, Evonik offers a new route to individualized patient care, with potential applications in prosthetics, surgical tools and more.

Marc Knebel, Market Segment Director for Medical Devices and Systems at Evonik, says: “Following the commercial success of our previous VESTAKEEP i4 3DF filament for long-term 3D printing of permanent implants, we are now expanding the possibilities of medical technology. modern for the individual treatment of patients with this new product ”.

Evonik Company Creates 3D Printed Filaments for Medical Purposes

The importance of 3D printing

For more than 20 years, Evonik has provided manufacturing companies with a wide variety of additive manufacturing materials. The firm now has one of the most extensive portfolios of biomaterials for use with 3D printing technology, allowing it to create pieces intended for temporary and permanent human contact. Beyond the VESTAKEEP range, the company also offers the RESOMER line, a series of filaments designed for 3D printing of implantable and bioabsorbable medical devices.

Evonik’s new filament is designed for short-term contact medical parts. Filament, like any polymer, exhibits a combination of temperature resistance, chemical resistance, and excellent mechanical properties, such as high strength.

Filamento

The product has a variant that also offers biocompatibility and high sterilization, expanding the list of applications to hearing aids, prostheses, braces, dental drill guides and individualized surgical instruments that each patient needs. It is available in a diameter of 1.75 millimeters and each coil weighs 500 grams. This 3D printing filament is subject to strict quality management standards for medical materials.

A useful material in the medical field

Knebel also ensures that to ensure a better quality of life for its patients, a wide variety of materials is needed and that it is constantly developing its suite of 3D biomaterials. At the same time, they are thinking of launching an innovative filament with osteoconductive properties that allow bone cells to adhere better and faster to implants. “Our goal is to revolutionize medical technology by offering innovative material solutions” he concludes.

Impresora 3D

This is not the first time that Evonik has manufactured filaments using 3D printing, having previously manufactured the INFINAM PEEK 9359 F 3D model for engineering parts. This material is very useful in the aerospace field since it is a filament that serves as a replacement for certain parts that come into contact with chemicals. It is also acid resistant, has great mechanical strength, and is flame retardant.