Formlabs introduced two new elastomeric and biocompatible resins. The BioMed Flex 80A Resin and BioMed Elastic 50A Resin seamlessly blend flexibility with essential biocompatibility certifications that cater to a growing demand of specific requirements. Open the door to new applications in healthcare and manufacturing with Formlabs’ new biocompatible, flexible resins.
Why Medical Grade Materials Matter
Creating end-use flexible parts has posed significant cost challenges. These parts can include customized devices, patient-specific surgical models, and short-term wearable or skin-contact devices. Furthermore, many companies have been constrained to offering standardized options.
Several hospital researchers utilize flexible materials that are not biocompatible for training and educational purposes. However the problem is that they are unable to employ them in the operating room (O.R.) where hands-on learning is critical.
Implementing a flexible and biocompatible 3D printing workflow enables hospitals and medical service companies to incorporate these models into the O.R. and expand their array of producible parts. Additionally, this advancement enhances the quality of patient care and ensures incredible cost savings for providers.
Meet the Trifecta: Flexibility, Transparency, and Biocompatibility
In the realm of producing biocompatible rigid components, numerous companies have discovered that 3D printing can offer a cost-effective production solution. However, when it comes to elastomeric parts, it has not proven viable. This is in part due to the limited availability of materials meeting the necessary shore hardness, elongation at break, and strict biocompatibility criteria.
Although previous materials like Formlabs Elastic 50A Resin and Flexible 80A Resin have been great for prototyping, tightly regulated workflows might have been holding you back. Traditionally, professionals within these sectors typically had to depend on cumbersome multi-step silicone molding procedures. This workflow is both labor intensive and very messy.
Alternatively, they had to resort to costly outsourcing with contract manufacturers. Now our customers can do more.
Biocompatibility approvals for long-term skin, and short-term mucosal contact opens doors to innovative workflows. Additionally, it allows for short production cycles, personalized wearables, and beyond. Both materials are ISO 10993 and USP Class VI tested, and produced in a Formlabs ISO 13485 certified facility, so you can print with confidence.
BioMed Flex 80A
Now, the BioMed Flex 80A resin streamlines workflows. Essentially select the STL file and print.
BioMed Flex 80A is the firmest flexible material in the Formlabs family of BioMed resins. Choose BioMed Flex 80A Resin to directly print patient-specific medical devices requiring flexibility. Additionally, it is great for firm tissue models that surgeons can reference in the O.R.
BioMed Flex 80A Resin has a Shore hardness (the measured hardness of a cured material) of 80A and elongation of 120% at break. This means that the printed parts will return to their original shape after deformation. Doing so allows the manipulation of the part during study or testing.
These parts can be used for flexible components on devices and patient-specific instruments such as short-term mucosal membrane tubes that can be customized to the patient’s anatomy. For surgeons, anatomical models that more closely resemble firm tissue can be brought into the O.R. for study and reference during a procedure. Accordingly, this been shown to improve outcomes and shorten patient recovery time.
Furthermore, BioMed Flex 80A is ISO 10993 and USP Class VI certified material is produced in an FDA-registered, ISO 13485 facility and can be used in applications requiring long-term skin contact or short-term mucosal membrane contact.
Ultimate Tensile Strength
7.2 MPa
Tear Strength
22 kN/m
BioMed Flex 80A Resin Biocomps
Long-term skin (>30 days), short-term mucosal membrane contact(< 24 hours), and USP Class VI certifications.
Printer Compatibility
The BioMed Flex 80A resin is compatible with Formlabs’ Form 3B, Form 3B+, and Form 3BL. If you have an “early” Form 3 printer- please contact us to check compatibility.
Curing Best Practices
First, place the part in a glass beaker that fits the part. Then, make sure the part is fully covered by the water. Formlabs says that tap water does work and any water on hand should be fine.
BioMed Elastic 50A Resin
BioMed Elastic 50A Resin is the softest elastomeric material in the Formlabs biocompatible family of BioMed resins. Before, customers were using silicone molds or using Elastic 50A Resin. However, the Elastic 50A Resin has no bio comp, and creating silicone mold processings and parts is cumbersome and time-consuming. Now, with BioMed Elastic 50A Resin, you can easily print flexible parts.
As a result, it is empowering healthcare professionals and medical device engineers with new design possibilities and efficiencies.
Customers can choose BioMed Elastic 50A Resin to directly print patient-specific medical devices with enhanced comfort or soft tissue models surgeons can reference in the O.R. By directly printing devices or models, BioMed Elastic 50A Resin eliminates labor time and cost.
The resin is equipped with a shore hardness of 50A and 150% elongation at break, meaning the parts can be easily bent, manipulated, and compressed, enabling components such as gaskets and seals or thin, flexible enclosures for medical device companies.
BioMed Elastic 50A Resin’s transparent properties mean that tube-like parts can show fluid moving through them. So customized, biocompatible fluidic devices can be manufactured cost-effectively in medical settings.
BioMed Elastic 50A is ISO 10993 and USP Class VI certified material is produced in an FDA-registered, ISO 13485 facility. And it can be used in applications requiring long-term skin contact or short-term mucosal membrane contact.
Ultimate Tensile Strength
2.3 MPa
Tear Strength
11 kN/m
BioMed Elastic 50A Biocomps
Long-term skin (>30 days), short-term mucosal membrane contact(< 24 hours), and USP Class VI certifications.
Printer Compatibility
BioMed Elastic 50A works with the Formlabs Form 3B printer, the Form 3B+, and the Form 3BL too. If you have an “early” Form 3 printer- please contact us to check compatibility.
Helping Medical Device Manufacturers and Healthcare Professionals Succeed
In conclusion, adapting to evolving needs using Formlabs Medical 3D printers and biocompatible resins in-house is easier than ever before. The lack of flexible and biocompatible material choices has limited the use of 3D printing within hospitals and medical service bureaus, despite the considerable advantages 3D printing offers.
With the growing options of biocompatible materials from Formlabs, combining 3D printing into a broader range of workflows and applications is now possible. In fact, this improves patient care, and saves money. And lastly, it broadens the scope of possibilities.
Whether it’s research and development, production tooling, or creating biocompatible end-use parts, harness the power of 3D printing to introduce advanced, custom patient devices to the market.
Order a free sample from us or talk to an Additive Manufacturing Specialist to order your resin today.
