HP introduces moderately priced, full-color system that 3D prints functional parts

HP (Palo Alto, CA) introduced today a new series of moderately priced 3D printers using Multi Jet Fusion (MJF) technology for functional prototyping and short-run production. The HP Jet Fusion 300 and 500 series printers—described as the newest milestone in the company’s quest to accelerate the “democratization of 3D printing”—allow manufacturers to produce engineering-grade, functional parts in full color, black or white with voxel-level control in a fraction of the time of other technologies, according to the company. The printers start in the $50,000 range, making them accessible to small and medium sized businesses, R&D teams and similar environments. 

Full-color model of the heart of a young girl named Jemma with a complex heart defect. The heart was printed using HP’s new Jet Fusion 300/500 3D printer to help surgeons at Phoenix Children’s Hospital prepare, select the best surgical path and explain the procedure to Jemma’s family. Data courtesy of Phoenix Children’s Hospital; Heart of Jemma.

“The fact that we can use full color without sacrificing functionality is a big deal,” said Ramon Pastor, General Manager, Multi Jet Fusion 3D Printing Business, during a press briefing. By allowing users to control part properties at the voxel level—think pixels, but for three-dimensional parts—the printers enable the design and production of previously inconceivable parts in full color, said HP in a press release.

The HP Jet Fusion 300/500 3D printers will launch with a new material, HP 3D High-Reusability CB PA 12. Parts using this material will have mechanical properties similar to the HP 3D High-Reusability PA 12 material from HP’s industrial solutions.

The company is currently collaborating with Yazaki Corp. to develop automotive applications and with Phoenix Children’s Hospital, where the new printers are producing “visually appealing casts and corrective devices, custom surgical guides and interactive and personalized anatomical models,” said Dr. Justin Ryan from the hospital’s Cardiac 3D Print Lab.

Features of the 300 and 500 series cited by Pastor during the press briefing include:

• compatibility with engineering-grade thermoplastics
• the mechanical properties and surface quality of MJF technology in a lower cost printer
• access to HP’s open materials platform
• layer thickness of 0.08 mm
• build size up to 7.5 x 13.1 x 9.8 inches
• a full bucket of 52 parts produced in 15 hours and a partial bucket with five parts in four hours
• multiple product variations

A boon to design engineers—the printers enable creation, testing and iteration to be performed in a matter of hours—the 300 and 500 series printers coupled with the industrial-grade HP Jet Fusion 3200, 4200 and 4210 models enable customers to go from prototyping to full production on the same technology platform.

Target customers include OEM R&D departments, design firms, custom parts manufacturers, manufacturing support teams and universities, according to HP.

The 300/500 series printers will be commercially available in the second half of this year. 

Seamless integration of 3D printing ramps up in clinical environments

The annual meeting of the Radiological Society of North America, which is being held in Chicago this week through Dec. 1, has generated a fair amount of 3D printing news. Yesterday, we reported on Stratasys’ launch of BioMimics, which provides functionally accurate 3D-printed replicas of complex anatomical structures for the purposes of surgical planning, education and medical device testing. Since then, Stratasys and Materialise have announced agreements with Philips and Siemens, respectively, that integrate 3D printing technology within hospital infrastructures.

Image courtesy Materialise.

Minneapolis-based Stratasys has signed an agreement with Philips that includes a seamless interface across its IntelliSpace Portal 10, an advanced visualization platform used by radiologists. It allows users of Philips’ informatics and data management system to rapidly design, order and produce 3D-printed anatomical structures on demand. Philips describes it as the “first solution to feature an embedded 3D modeling application for creating and exporting 3D models intuitively into the clinical workflow.” Philips has signed a similar agreement with 3D Systems. These partnerships with two of the leading 3D printing technology companies, said Philips, provide its customers with expedited access to 3D-printed models that help physicians understand patient anatomy that is otherwise difficult to visualize.

Belgium-based Materialise (Leuven), meanwhile, has struck a deal with medical technology company Siemens Healthineers. The agreement allows radiologists to print anatomical models using Materialise Mimics inPrint software, which has been integrated into Siemens Healthineers syngo.via open app platform.

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By integrating the software into syngo.via, Mimics inPrint is directly incorporated into the standard hospital workflow, said the company in a press release. “This will facilitate the integration of 3D printing within clinical environments, contributing to higher quality, cost-efficient care for patients and hospitals. Each patient will now have access to more personalized care through Materialise’s patient-specific anatomical models,” said the company.

Patient-specific 3D-printed anatomical models are a tremendously useful tool for physicians preparing to perform a complex procedure. Stratasys is also marketing its BioMimics software as a service to medical device manufacturers, who can test their newly developed products in a lifelike simulated environment. Speaking to Engineering.com, Stratasys’ Mike Gaisford explained, “When some of these engineers get their hands on 3D-printed models, this is the first time they’ve deployed their device in a clinically realistic environment. It really breaks down the barriers to performing the testing, training and understanding the anatomy. They’ve said, ‘Oh this is what the doctors are talking about when they’re describing the anatomy.’” 

To learn more about BioMimics, read “Stratasys debuts next-generation 3D-printed medical models.”

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