Using 3-D printing for molds to speed medical part development

3-D printing and additive manufacturing equipment maker Stratasys Ltd. is collaborating with U.S. design and product developer, Worrell Design Inc., to accelerate medical device development through the use of 3-D printed injection mold tooling.

Worrell is producing injection molded prototypes using final production materials in 95 percent less time and at 70 percent less cost compared with traditional aluminium molds.

Stratasys said it had identified an under-utilization of the 3-D printed injection molding process in medical device development and was working with Worrell to help fill this gap. Both companies are based in Minneapolis.

Nadav Sella, senior manager of Manufacturing Tools at Stratasys, said: "Worrell is a leading design firm with the expertise and infrastructure necessary to integrate injection molding and 3-D printing within the product development cycle. In an industry where products have the potential to save lives, we want to use this collaboration to demonstrate how medical device manufacturers can bring their products to market significantly faster than ever before."

Medical device manufacturers traditionally face two main obstacles in getting medical devices to market: tooling costs and the U.S. Food and Drug Administration regulatory process.

Traditional tooling is both costly and time-consuming, as new molds must be created every time a prototype is refined before manufacturing. To reduce potential iteration risks and tooling costs, Worrell uses Stratasys PolyJet-based 3-D printers to create injection molding tools and then inject the same materials that will be used in a finished medical device, creating higher-fidelity prototypes.

Kai Worrell, Worrell's chief executive, said: "We were recently approached by medical device start-up, MedTG, to design and engineer a dual-flow needleless blood collection system that reduced the need for multiple injections, increasing patient comfort and hospital efficiency. By using 3-D printed injection molds to prototype the device, we were able to reduce the costs associated with traditional tooling by approximately 70 percent, as well as cutting times by 95 percent.”