Silicone breast prostheses 50% cheaper to make with 3D printing

Anita, a German manufacturer of breast prostheses is now using a 3D printer from RepRap to produce its moulds – with an approximate 50% reduction in costs. 

At Anita, product development not only covers the textiles used, but the tools needed to shape the products as required.

Georg Weber-Unger Junior, director of Anita said: "The moulds have been changing all the time and we need tools for 10 different types in 100 different sizes".

The X400 3D printer is now being used for the tool making for these prostheses. Previously a wooden template was used to create a fibre-glass prototype. This was then mirrored in a manual process which takes 14 days to create an aluminium mould to pour the silicone into.

"The two sides were never absolutely identical", said Weber-Unger. Now, the mould is created using CAD software which can instantly mirror and then print the form. To do that, the original aluminium mould is being 3D scanned, the images stitched together and then touched up within the software. The printer software, "Slicer", converts the CAD files into the G-code format readable by the 3D printer. Within a few hours the printer creates a replica of the tool.

The team at Anita only print with PLA (polylactic acid), a biodegradable thermoplastic polyester with high tensile strength. The PLA model is casted with sand and a foundry turns the resulting casting mould into the new aluminium tool, which means that no milling is required.