“We are proud to be the first customer of an Optomec LENS HCAS, the only commercially-available machine to provide hybrid manufacturing capabilities for reactive metals,” says Dr Michael Sealy, assistant professor, mechanical and materials engineering at UNL. “Our research is focused on advancing the performance and functionality of dissolvable devices. Using LENS, we are applying a hybrid additive manufacturing process to control the disintegration of medical fasteners and plates so they stay intact long enough to serve their purpose and then degrade away once the bone is healed.”
Powdered metals such as magnesium, titanium and other reactive materials must be processed in a controlled atmosphere environment where oxygen and moisture impurities are maintained below 10 parts per million. Sealy uses the Optomec LENS 3D HCAS to process these materials in a way that addresses a key scientific challenge: how to maintain the strength and integrity of a degradable implant long enough for it to do its job.
Optomec’s LENS HCAS enables Sealy and his team to couple LENS deposition technology with layered surface treatments to print 3D metal components in magnesium with controlled degradation. The ability to control the disintegration of a structure is a highly sought-after design capability, not only for applications in orthopaedics, cardiology and urology, but for other applications areas such as lightweight aerospace and automotive structures.
