EnvisionTEC is often mentioned in the same sentence as jewelry and dental 3D printing, and that’s fair, as the company does supply a good selection of 3D printers and materials for those applications. EnvisionTEC is a lot more than that, though – in fact, it has at least one 3D printer specifically designed for almost every application you can think of, and that includes bioprinting. The 3D-Bioplotter series may not be as visible as some of EnvisionTEC’s other 3D printers, but these quiet, unassuming printers are, in fact, some of the busiest 3D printers out there.

The 3D-Bioplotter family of printers consists of three models: the Starter series, the Developer series and the Manufacturer series, each with increasing capabilities. The original 3D-Bioplotter is now in its fourth generation, and more than 15 years of hardware and software development have gone into it. The modular 3D printer is easy to use, while being capable of advanced research at the same time. The Bioplotter series prints with open-source biomaterials, using air or mechanical pressure to extrude them through a variety of syringes.

This year is a milestone year for EnvisionTEC, which hit its 15th birthday in 2017, and the 3D-Bioplotter has hit its own milestone as well – it’s now been featured in more than 200 peer-reviewed research papers published in scientific, technical and medical journals. We’ve looked at several of those papers ourselves, from a recent effort to 3D print brain tissue to the development of cellulose 3D printing ink, and a lot more – and we’ll be highlighting some more of those studies in the near future as well.

3D printed neurones created with a 3D-Bioplotter [Image: Gu et al/Advanced Healthcare]

Last year, EnvisionTEC created a database to track the research being done with the 3D-Bioplotter series. You can access the database, which currently contains 205 papers,

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“The diversity and depth of these papers demonstrate the advanced research our customers can perform with our premium technology,” said Carlos Carvalho, who has worked on the development of the 3D-Bioplotter since its beginnings and led the development of the printer’s fourth generation.

According to EnvisionTEC, the topics covered by the papers in the database include:

• Regeneration of bone, cartilage, soft tissue, nerves, tendons and teeth
• 3D organ printing, including a 3D printed ovary implanted in a mouse
• Direct cell printing
• Trachea reconstruction
• Spinal cord injuries
• Drug release for gene therapy or treatment of conditions like epilepsy and tuberculosis
• Particle-based inks made from polymers, ceramics and metals

One of the most recent papers discusses the repair of tympanic membrane perforations with custom bioprinted ear grafts, while another looks at imaging of cardiac patches made from 3D printed alginate hydrogels to treat heart attacks or myocardial infarctions.

This mouse gave birth to live babies after being implanted with ovaries 3D printed on the 3D-Bioplotter.

The work done with the 3D-Bioplotter goes beyond medicine, too, including research into food 3D printing and the development of building materials for the moon and Mars. But what is perhaps most exciting is the fact that while most of the work done with the 3D-Bioplotter has been conducted in-vitro, aka outside of a living organism, more studies are cropping up that involve in-vivo work, done inside of an animal. According to EnvisionTEC, it’s only a matter of time before we start seeing work published involving live human subjects. I can’t think of any better reason to keep an eye on EnvisionTEC’s 3D-Bioplotter database. A lot of groundbreaking discoveries have been made over the course of the last 200 studies done with the 3D-Bioplotter – I can only imagine what the next 200 will bring.

As beta testing recruitment for the Nano Dimension’s DragonFly 2020 3D printer ended recently, we gained some insight into a few of the companies that have been working with Nano Dimension, and what variety of applications they would find it useful for in making electronic boards. As one of the beta testing companies, and third to receive a Dragonfly 2020, German developer PHYTEC has also been part of a case study just released by Nano Dimension.

PHYTEC was able to progress from concept to prototype all in the matter of a day with the use of the DragonFly 2020, demonstrating how electronics manufacturers can save time and money. As a developer of embedded systems and supporting applications, the industry leader will be able to get products to market faster.

“In electronics development, traditional manufacturing techniques mean long and expensive lead times,” states Nano Dimension in the recent case study. “Many companies find that the time it takes for numerous design iteration cycles significantly impacts product development projects.”

The beta testing was obvious a win for both companies, and PHYTEC is now switching to 3D printing for their electronics due to the speed and efficiency in workflow.

“The ability to create multiple iterations not only helps improve quality but also helps reveal potential flaws early, which eliminates the risk of costly changes in the post-production stage,” states Nano Dimension.

[Image: Nano Dimension]

PHYTEC has always made microprocessor PCB designs in-house, but previously it would take at least eight days to create the final product, and sometimes as long as

. PHYTEC would have to pay substantial set-up fees for the PCBs, not to mention express mailing costs.

3D printed circuits from Nano Dimension at CES 2017 [Photo: Sarah Goehrke]

Bodo Huber, CTO for PHYTEC, explains that previously, the idea of using 3D printers for PCBs was considered a fantasy. As time went on though and the 3D printer became more mainstream, still accessibility, affordability, and finding the required precision were all continued challenges.

“The DragonFly 2020 is the first printer which is designed to provide suitable accuracy and precision for state-of-the-art electronics. Onsite printing of PCBs can easily save multiple days in waiting for PCBs. This allows you to get earlier access to functional prototypes,” says Huber.

“The most important benefit is the dramatic reduction in cycle time. It takes us 12 to 18 hours, depending on the size and complexity of a board to print a PCB. This is easily 10 to 15 times faster than ordering PCBs the tradition way.”

Huber states that some of the benefits in using the DragonFly 2020 are that it extends their rapid development capabilities for customers, allows for faster design validation, and overall design cycle time can be reduced for orders just by reducing the lead time for PCBs. The PHYTEC team also sees the use of 3D printing as allowing them to participate in one of the leading modern methodologies.

If your company is interested in finding out more about this study and reducing development and production time of PCBs, click here for information.

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VIDEO

I know several people who use online dating websites like Match.com and OkCupid, and the results of their adventures have been…mixed. I’ve heard plenty of hilarious horror stories from some, while others have gone on to find wonderful long-term relationships, engagements, and marriages. I also know people who have profiles on more than one dating site, and while that sounds exhausting, it makes for a large pool of potential soul mates. If you’re thinking about trying online dating for the first time, though, how do you decide which site to use? There are an overwhelming number of platforms out there, each offering something slightly different, yet with the same end goal.

The other big question is: with so many dating websites out there, how does a site stand out above the rest? Companies are having to get creative, and one site that’s always been especially creative is Match.com. Online dating is, in itself, a hallmark of the technological era, and Match.com is a big fan of using technology to set itself apart from other dating sites. At the beginning of this year, the company gave a new meaning to the term “coffee date” by leveraging Ripples technology to create custom beverages with the faces of eligible bachelors and bachelorettes 3D printed in the foam. If that’s not tactile enough for you, though, Match is now offering another pop-up event that lets women meet potential matches in 3D printed form before meeting them in real life.

Called “Model Males,” the pop-up event will be taking place from Wednesday August 2nd to Friday August 4th in the Marylebone area of London. Several men from Match.com have been 3D printed courtesy of Mini-You, each at around seven inches tall, and they will be proudly displayed in the pop-up shop, located at 34 Thayer Street. Interested women can come in, receive a free glass of prosecco, and learn about potential dates by reading details on their packaging, while getting a look at them in miniaturized 3D. If they’re interested in learning more, they can then contact those men by following a link on the packaging.

The shop will be open from 11:30 to 3:00, and will start in London with the goal of eventually spreading to other cities around the UK. The initiative is launching in conjunction with Match’s “Match Badge” idea, which encourages men who use the site to, well, not be jerks to women.

“Dating should always be fun, but it can be tricky at times. There is an ever-growing list of different terms used to label the negative side of dating, but we should stop focussing on those and start celebrating the amazing single men and women who are looking for the right person,” said Match dating expert Vicki Pavitt. “The idea behind Model Males is to showcase the brilliant and reliable men that wouldn’t even think of ‘ghosting’ a date. There are still plenty of gents out there and this is a way of giving women the power and opportunity to find their very own Model Male to take home.”

This isn’t the first time Match has 3D printed some of its eligible males, so it seems that the tactic is working. So, ladies, if this works out for you, when people ask how you met your partner, you can truthfully say to them, “I picked him up at the date store.” From the sound of it, only the most reliable and gentlemanly of suitors have been chosen to be 3D printed, so you can relax and know that you’ll be contacting someone who will treat you well – and who won’t be weirded out that you already have his action figure.

With the release of the first 3D printed and FDA approved drug last year, pharmaceutical companies from all around are investing in 3D printing technologies. It has proven to be an efficient way of prototyping new products, with its cost efficient and effortless manner, but it is now moving into a new realm of printing the finished drugs themselves. In addition to efficient prototyping, 3D printed drugs can be tailored to patients in terms of its dose, size, appearance, and delivery, all of which can make the drug safer and more effective.

The Research & Development Tax Credit

Enacted in 1981, the federal Research and Development (R&D) Tax Credit allows a credit of up to 13 percent of eligible spending for new and improved products and processes. Qualified research must meet the following four criteria:

• New or improved products, processes, or software
• Technological in nature
• Elimination of uncertainty
• Process of experimentation

Eligible costs include employee wages, cost of supplies, cost of testing, contract research expenses, and costs associated with developing a patent. On December 18, 2015 President Obama signed the bill making the R&D Tax Credit permanent. Beginning in 2016, the R&D credit can be used to offset Alternative Minimum Tax and startup businesses can utilize the credit against $250,000 per year in payroll taxes.

Spritam

[Image: Aprecia Pharmaceuticals]

GlaxoSmithKline

The British pharmaceutical company GlaxoSmithKline (GSK) has been investing in 3D printing technology for a few years now. Their R&D department dedicated to 3D printing, headquartered in Pennsylvania, uses the technology in a variety of ways including prototyping, packaging, and tissue sampling. 3D printing has proven to be a progressive technology for the company. By using 3D printed tissue to test new drugs, the need for animal testing is eliminated and it leads to a clearer understanding of drug performance since the testing is being done on tissue that is closer to humans than animals. Rapid prototyping by 3D printing has also accelerated the rate of learning at a lower cost. Scientists at GSK are currently exploring the possibility of patient-specific dosage forms. GSK’s director of technology, Martin Wallace, claims that printing tailored medicine can significantly simplify their chain supply. Though they are a long way off from pharmacies and homes being able to print their own medication, 3D printing personalized medicine means more specific solutions for each patient.

UCL School of Pharmacy

At University College London School of Pharmacy, researchers have been applying an old method to the concept of 3D printing drugs.  The hot melt extrusion method is the process of applying heat and pressure to melt a polymer and force it through an orifice in a continuous process. By doing this, the researchers at UCL were able to 3D print drugs into different geometrical shapes. Certain shapes, such as pyramid shaped pills, help to quicken the releasing of the active ingredient by having less surface area. They also created animal shaped tablets to make the experience of taking medication more child-friendly. In 2014, the researchers at UCL started their own pharma company, FabRx, which focuses on developing 3D printing technology for pharmaceutical production and medical devices. They started the company in hopes of making 3D printing more widely used in the pharma industry and are now a rapidly growing business that creates 3D printed medicines.

The Chemputer

[Image: Cronin Group]

Conclusion

The pharmaceutical industry is being transformed by the benefits and technology that 3D printing has to offer. By investing in a 3D printer, a pharma company can save thousands of dollars and many hours on research and development, while also making groundbreaking discoveries on new methods and drug formulations.

Charles Goulding and Rafaella July of R&D Tax Savers discuss 3D printing in the pharmaceutical industry.

Between three countries – Kenya, Uganda and Tanzania – is Lake Victoria, the largest lake in Africa. On its shores, the people of Tanzania depend on the fish that come from its waters. Not long ago, fishermen would go out at night with oil lamps burning to fish in the coolest part of the day, but now they use solar LED lights, which are safer and provide more light. In Tanzania’s homes, children study by the light of solar lamps, rather than trying to see by the insufficient light of the oil lamps, which also caused problems with smoke and soot.

Those solar lights were developed by Simusolar, a company that provides affordable solar energy for rural, off-the-grid communities in sub-Saharan Africa. With headquarters in both Tanzania and California, Simusolar aims to help remote communities become self-sustainable so that their people aren’t forced to relocate to more populated, connected areas to find work, and it aims to do it in a manner that causes no harm to the environment.

Simulsolar provides not only solar lights but other solar-powered equipment, including water pumps, small business equipment, etc. Each piece of equipment has a custom circuit board integrated into it, so that it can be controlled and monitored remotely using GSM technology.

Like so many providers of energy technology, Simusolar has relied on 3D printing for parts of its manufacturing processes. Recently, the company needed a small, complex part made from electrically insulating material for its circuit board installation. The Simusolar team looked into injection molding, but the cost of tooling was too high, so they turned to 3D printing for the product’s alpha run, which would require only 100 parts.

After trying to 3D print the part with a small subcontractor, Simusolar realized that the complexity of the part required more high-end equipment than the subcontractor had available, so the company turned to Sculpteo and its SLS 3D printing technology.

“The Sculpteo SLS process has much higher 3D printing resolution and makes more robust parts at a reasonable price. It is our go-to 3D method of choice for most projects,” Simusolar explained.

The Simusolar team was also a fan of Sculpteo’s pricing.

“Most vendors charge a base fee plus to start a 3D print then add one for material and machine time,” the company continued. “Sculpteo broke this model. This means they can provide small complex parts for as little as $7 each.”

3D printing and solar power have, in a sense, grown up together, and as the two technologies continue to advance, they’re becoming more and more intertwined. 3D printing has been used to create more efficient solar power collectors, and we’ve even seen solar powered 3D printers tried out in Tanzania before. Solar power can also be used to power 3D printers, creating a more sustainable ecosystem of creation. It’s interesting how advancement is born out of need, and that it’s often the communities that lack access to traditional resources such as electrical grids that end up implementing innovative, next-generation technology like solar power first.

Simulsolar has only been around since 2014, but has already made tremendous impact on the lives of people in remote areas of Africa, without having any negative impact on the environment. You can learn more about some of the impact the company has made below:

Let us know your thoughts about 3D printing and solar energy in projects like this one made possible in rural Africa. Discuss in the Solar Energy forum at 3DPB.com.

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The LightFab 3D printer is for makers and inventors who are involved in more complex projects, aspiring to work with glass as well as etching. The Germany-headquartered company has created a multi-faceted machine in the LightFab, which includes all the following along with the 3D microscanner:

• High precision 3-axis system for stepping
• FS-laser
• Camera and vision system for automatic alignment
• Laser safety and an innovative CAD/CAM/nc software package

LightFab created the innovative new hardware specifically for their selective laser etching, a ‘subtractive’ 3D printing process. It can also be used for laser writing in materials that are transparent, such as:

• Waveguide writing
• 2-photon-polymerization
• Backside ablation
• Crack-free markings

“We offer you the production of glass micro-parts spanning from prototypes, small and large lot sizes or enable you to produce the parts on your own using our micro scanners,” states the LightFab team.

SLE is a two-part process, consisting of rapid laser radiation which “is focused to micrometer-sized spots into a material that is transparent to the wavelength of the laser radiation used,” as Martin Hermans, Jens Gottmann, and Jürgen Ortmann of LightFab explain, continuing:

“The laser radiation is absorbed, only at the focal spot, by the material because of nonlinear absorption processes occurring at the high intensities that are applied (>1012W/cm2). The absorbed energy leads to internal heating and subsequent quenching of the material in a very confined volume, resulting in a permanent modification of the transparent material. This laser modification does not consist of cracks and can be applied with extreme precision.”

In the second part, the piece is moved into an etching bath.

“The etching starts at the surface and works its way into the workpiece, washing out all the material that was previously modified with the laser radiation,” the team explains.

Users interested in such technology should benefit from SLE as little stress is placed on the material, and support structures are not necessary.

Reindeer with movable legs [Image: LightFab]

“Although SLE surfaces feature an initial roughness on the order of Ra ~200nm, the surfaces do not have microcracks or sub-surface defects that cause failure in cases of mechanical load. This makes applications in the field of flexure bearings possible,” states the LightFab team.

“The current state of the technology in fused silica is that first-time-right machining is possible for complex 3D parts <7mm in height with a precision of about 10μm and a maximum tunnel length of 10mm. Larger precision or longer tunnel lengths are feasible, but often make iterations of production and measurements necessary before the part fits the precision requirements.”

Glass parts are useful for the medical industry, precision mechanics, and optics. With SLE laser technology, 3D devices can be made from materials most users have not considered, such as silica, ultralow expansion glass, and sapphire. The technology also allows for parts to be made with more complex interiors like cavities and tunnels, as well as other moving parts.

Microfluidical chip for capillary electrophoresis

LightFab has collaborated with other companies to create items such as the following:

• Cell-sorter for antibiotic resistance tests
• Microfluidical cross-section chip in fused silica
• Lava nozzle inset for laser particle accelerators
• Microfluidical chip for capillary electrophoresis

You can find out more about LightFab here, as well as downloading the data sheet for the LightFab 3D printer and exploring their other products.

[Source: LightFab via

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