Testing of innovative materials for medical additive manufacturing by DTA

Abstract

Additive manufacturing technologies revolutionize many aspects of our everyday life. Biomedical applications benefit a lot from 3D printing. From surgical guides, patterns to custom-made splints and casts, several medical devices can be easily produced or prototyped with FFF/FDM technologies. New materials regularly appear on the market; therefore, the scientifically accurate and practical information is not available, and we are lack of information regarding mechanical and thermal stability of the printed products. In addition, these parameters are essential in setting and optimizing the 3D printers. In our study, we aimed to analyze two different, unique PLA/CaCO3 composites in the form of additive manufacturing filament, with DTA. We tested the HDT form of PLA in pellet and filament form too. The results showed that these composites based on their thermal characteristics can be suitable for 3D print biomedical devices such as orthoses, casts, medical models and surgical guides too; therefore, their further examination should be important, regarding mechanical characteristics.