Evaluation of a Medical Grade Thermoplastic Polyurethane for the Manufacture of an Implantable Medical Device: The Impact of FDM 3D-Printing and Gamma Sterilization.

ABSTRACT: Three-dimensional printing (3DP) of thermoplastic polyurethane (TPU) is gaining interest in the medical industry thanks to the combination of tunable properties that TPU exhibits and the possibilities that 3DP processes offer concerning precision, time, and cost of fabrication. We investigated the implementation of a medical grade TPU by fused deposition modelling (FDM) for the manufacturing of an implantable medical device from the raw pellets to the gamma (γ) sterilized 3DP constructs. To the authors' knowledge, there is no such guide/study implicating TPU, FDM 3D-printing and gamma sterilization. Thermal properties analyzed by differential scanning calorimetry (DSC) and molecular weights measured by size exclusion chromatography (SEC) were used as monitoring indicators through the fabri

SUBMITTER: M'Bengue MS 

PROVIDER: S-EPMC9960613 | biostudies-literature | 2023 Jan

REPOSITORIES: biostudies-literature