Odapt
The cost of 3D printing with biocompatible silicon remains a big challenge for healthcare solutions providers, according to Odapt CEO Ivana Llobet.
Llobet raised the issue on this week’s Additive Insight podcast, in which she spoke to TCT about the development of Odapt’s 3D printed ostomy bag wafer product.
Odapt’s flagship product is a personalised wafer that works to prevent leakage of ostomy bags while also providing greater comfort to the patient. Each wafer will be manufactured specific to the patient’s anatomy after 3D scan data is used to model the product.
While Odapt is still some time away from commercialising the product, it has identified the cost of 3D printing as the biggest barrier for the start-up.
“We’re happy with the technology itself,” Llobet said. “We are seeing every year that there’s more and more manufacturers working in biocompatible silicon 3D printing which is great because the main challenge that we have is the cost, because it is still quite rare to 3D print in biocompatible silicon and we hope in the following years, it’s something that hopefully will go down as more people start to go into the market.”
Despite the challenges around cost, Odapt is not only pushing forward with the development of its ostomy bag wafer product but is also exploring other applications with silicon 3D printing.
One such application is a personalised respiratory mask for neonates, which relies on similar scanning techniques to obtain the required data, and another is a stoma bag for patients with severe neck injuries that work to collect saliva.
Odapt is pursuing these applications not only because of their suitability to 3D printing, but because its work in personalised products will mean it will have its manufacturing processes regulated by medical authorities, rather than the products themselves.
“3D printing can be challenging in terms of regulation because when you’re personalising, it means that every piece is going to be different,” Llobet said. “So, you cannot certify the piece because each one is unique, so you need to certify the process. You need a certified material, certified machine, certified space and company. It’s a lot to complete, but once you have this, you’re ready to print any piece even if it’s different than the other to certify it.”
