AIMThe Swedish company is a commercial subsidiary of the University of Central Sweden located in the city of Östersund. It is not only a contract manufacturer responsible for the production of medical implants, but also cooperates with many customers on engineering projects. incubationAIMThe company’s university research group isEBMtechnology, a commonly used medical implant manufacturing technology focused on both process development and research of new materials and the application of patient-specific implants.2015 In , a research team from the university decided to create a commercial company and 2016 Created at the beginning of the year and received the first machine.
△AIMSSweden Product for use in hip replacement surgeries 3D Printed implants
In recent years, the company has focused on two main market segments:— Molded fibers and orthopedics – the latter currently being the biggest earner.
AIM Sweden CEO ofStefan ThundalexistArkAfter working ten years, he joined the company, today GE additive is part of the first developed and marketed EBM technology.Stéphane“However, we expect the molded fiber business unit to have the potential to overtake the orthopedics business, although the orthopedics market is a very healthy and growing market. In this segment,3D Print adoption is also growing, so we see a big opportunity for us there as well. “
△AlthoughAIMThe company is heavily focused on the development of medical implants, but EBM 3D Model Printed molded fiber tools become AIM Sweden strategic areas of development.
focus onEBMTechnical production partner
In terms of positioning,AIM Swedenposition yourself asEBMEngineering partners and experts for printing. Director of Company Orthopedic Applications Marie Cronskär He said: “We areEBMHas extensive experience and knowledge in technology development and its applications to help achieve3DLow-cost production of printed implants. In addition, we also have extensive experience in quality and verification of production processes. becauseEBMThis is still a relatively new way of producing implants, but some customers also need help. This is our advantage. And,3DPrinting is ideal for creating mesh structures that promote bone growth, and we often customize meshes or even design new structures for clients. “
AIM Sweden This mainly involves mass production of standard implants, but sometimes patient-specific implants. Last year the company used two devices running continuously Q10More The machine produced 14,000 an implant.
△AIM in Swedish production facilities EBM3D printer
References to major implant manufacturers, e.g. Stryker And Zimmer Biomet(the largest manufacturer of orthopedic implants and AM large adopters of technology),AIM Sweden Think of them not as competitors, but as potential customers. In some cases, the company partners with OEMs that have their own internal additive manufacturing capabilities as a second source of production in addition to their internal capabilities. This successful approach has already been used AIM Sweden has become the main source of production of certain products.
although AIM Sweden Typically working with orthopedic OEMs, the company also works directly with hospitals to provide patient-specific implants, cutting/Drill guide or preoperative template for surgical planning.
Optimizing additive manufacturing to meet market needs
at present,AIM Sweden Mainly produces joint replacement implants such as hip cups and stems for primary hip and knee joint surgeries, but AIM Sweden Implants for revision surgeries are also produced. MarriedExplaining that “sometimes patients need revision surgery, and then you use certain implants to fill in areas where bone tissue is missing. »
Stéphane Added: “An important area we are moving into is spinal implants and we believe this market will grow rapidly. The use of additive manufacturing technology in this area is growing and we intend to collaborate widely in this area. Our technology is ideal for producing spinal implants. we can use EBM The technology stacks a large number of parts in each version. We find this to be very cost effective on these types of small implants. choose 3D The most common factors in favor of printing to produce implants are, on the one hand, the greater design freedom offered by innovative porous structures for the growth of bone tissue and, on the other hand, the efficient production of these implants. Personalization is another increasingly common factor, but the most common factor remains3D Printing is an effective method for producing implants with porous structures. “
In the past, the most common medical implants were bone cement implants. Cemented implants are still common in some surgical procedures, such as knee surgery, but that is about to change. Today there is a strong upward trend in the use of press-fit knee implants, which of course also offerAIM Sweden 3D Printing companies open up a larger potential market.
when asked AIM Sweden How it worksMarriedFrom the customer’s perspective: “Sometimes they bring a final product that’s already on the market and they just need a second production source. Then for us it’s a matter of defining the appropriate build configuration (file preparation, support structure, post-production processing, etc.). etc.) and then print it efficiently and with high quality, but it could also be that they have a new product or a new product idea and we can be involved in the design process from the beginning because that way we can implement small changes. which make printing and post-processing easier, as customers often do not have this knowledge. »
Stéphane concluded: “3D A common challenge when printing original products is the difficulty of finding obvious fixed reference points when you bring them to the shop floor. Therefore, you need to position and align components in the right way to machine correctly, but this is not always easy. You can make this easier by designing the original parts we print in a smart way. This is therefore a fundamental aspect of our work that we must continue to focus on, not only at the printing stage, but throughout the entire manufacturing process. “
Source: Antarctic Bear
Daguang focuses on providing solutions such as precision CNC machining services (3-axis, 4-axis, 5-axis machining), CNC milling, 3D printing and rapid prototyping services.
