4 min reading time

As originally asked by Philippe Coriat.

Does anyone have any idea about the cost of rapid prototyping for an orthopedic implant? (knee)

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Charline Chen
Plant Manager – Magnet Marrili Automotive lighting (XG)Ltd
show me your idea please, we can use 5-X CNC cuting for your protype.
normally the material should be titanium alloy

Romy Ballieux
Product Mgnt [ Digital transformation – Medical – Innovation – Implants – New technologies – Software ]
The cost of a 3D printed knee depends on a few factors :
– The quantity of pieces (1 prototype or 200 parts in serial manufacturing)
– The surface finish
– The material
– The desired accuracy
– The material volume and height
– Any post – processing

Layerwise is a company that is specialized in 3D printing of metals through Selective Laser Melting with accuracies of 50µm. Material ranges from titanium grade 1,2, 5 & 23, CoCr alloys to stainless steels and others. We focus on serial manufacturing of medical devices/implants according to the ISO 13485.

If you need a more detailed overview you can visit the website on www.layerwise.com or contact me personally on Romy.Ballieux (@) layerwise.com for a detailed quotation.

Have a nice day!

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Donald E. Felix II
Independant Technical Sales & Project Management in Mechanical Eng. & Precision Machining. LLC
Being in the precision job shop business the past 30 years – your best and less costly approach would be to have one made by 3D printing.
It is NOT like it sounds Philippe.
It takes your CAD/solid model file and creates a part out of a resin that is tough and can be used as a great start. It will be within .002″ of an inch throughout the part. It is similar to the OLD technology of SLA – but these can be used for other assembly & practical use in prototyping uses.
P.S.
I will sign a non-discloser or Non-Compete agreement and have it quoted for you.
Just e-mail me and we can discuss the details for me to help or you to contact them on your own.

Hope this helps.
Don

www.redeyeprinting.com (a Minnesota Company)

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Marcos Parra
Gerente comercial na Optika Sistemas Para Medicina
You can find on the web side : [http://biometmicrofixation.com|leo://plh/http%3A*3*3biometmicrofixation%2Ecom/B9XR?_t=tracking_disc]
There they will guide you for distributor from your country.
Very Easy. I was distributor of this product in BRASIL. This product is called HTR it is a polymer of high density.

bye
Marcos Parra

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Hilde Wahlen
President at FEPPD from 01/05/2010 till 01/06/2016
Just look at www.dentwise.eu and they can deliver all you need.

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Richard Long
I am seeking Quality Management/Engineering work in the Buffalo, NY area.
IN 2009 I had to validate a small rapid proto facality in warsaw for the company I worked for. We had a titinum metalizer, and a general printer. rough cost for the metalizer was around 275-300k and the printer (resin and rubber capable) about 150-175k. That did not include the site updated needed to run the equipment about 25-30K. but I have to beleive if you are going to actual knee replacement and I hope you are talking a prototype, (the FDA would not like implantable medical device coming out of thin air).

you are going to need some addition equipment to support the metalizer, like a good band saw, some type of milling capability to do an final clean up, Warsaw, Ind.has a large amount of Ortho going on so there were several support shops that could do clean up at a reasonable price.

I didn’t give you cost for the building but the prices for the equipment is real in 2009. the only thing I can thing you would need is a good engineer/technician and an engineer or two that can take a design and turn it into a a very thin series of drawings and can interface with the technician about the design and running time,

Going to go help this helps,
Rich

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Mahmood Mohiuddin
Medical Device Design Consulting
There seem to be a lot of rapid prototyping services in the market today. They can be contacted for quotes. Some thought should go into their selection process to get long term optimal results. It would be a good suggestion to do Moldflow analysis early in the prototyping process to sort out design related bugs, upfront. Ideally you would want a flexible source that can provide some process development service for any secondary operations like decorating or marking. Sometimes the 3-D files can get corrupted, posing challenges. You would want your protytping source to contact you if problems surface, with suggestions.

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Amy Enga
Retired
Red Eye On Demand at Stratasys offers an online quote form. [http://www.redeyeondemand.com/|leo://plh/http%3A*3*3www%2Eredeyeondemand%2Ecom*3/zgQs?_t=tracking_disc]

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April Bright
General Manager at ORTHOWORLD Inc.
A selection of suppliers that provide orthopaedic implant prototyping services exists in the Supplier Directory on www.BONEZONEpub.com.

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Peter Verrillo
CEO Enhatch
In a plastic, for a small quantity, between 2-300 for a femoral and tibial component. Cheaper with higher volume.

In metal, varies from 3-400 to 1000. Better material is more expensive. A lot of the guys I know like scicast from www.scicontech.com because its accurate and functional and not too pricey.

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Allison Rae
Pulse Medical Demonstration Models
Philippe,
You can get an instant online quote from FineLine Prototyping for Stainless Steel or Cobalt Chrome. FineLine is the industry leader in precision rapid prototypes. They can hold tighter tolerances, make smaller features and create a smoother surface finish than any other service bureau, including the manufacturers of the machines they use. You can get 10% off your 1st order with code Pulse0510. Yes, I represent them but that does not mean what I am saying is not true. 🙂
As far as price in general, size matters. The taller the Z height, the more cost so sometimes splitting a part can be a way to save alittle, provided reassembling it will not outweigh the benefit.
Good luck.

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Joshua Patton, MBA
E-Commerce and Digital Marketing Management
Solid Concepts has a pretty useful tool for generating an estimate for parts, you have to register but their quotes are a pretty solid. Good luck! (The materials for medical implants are typically more expensive and must be run on qualified machines so make sure they are)

[http://rapidquotes.solidconcepts.com/Account/Create|leo://plh/http%3A*3*3rapidquotes%2Esolidconcepts%2Ecom*3Account*3Create/YG1U?_t=tracking_disc]

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Julius H.
Dynamic Operations /Manufacturing /Engineering /Project Manager Professional
This would; vary between the size of your prototype, what type of material, any colors you would like , and if their are different materials and how functional you would need it to be. Your best bet to have a soldi model made i.e such as Solidworks and send it out for quotes -many firms now exist in each state and province and quotes can vary substantially. I know because I have been doing this for a long time.