Sailner hand
Multi-colour hand model printed on the WJP Medication machine.
TCT Asia flew open, the show floor was immediately packed, and navigating from stand to stand required as many steps sideways as forwards.
Among the AM exhibition regulars, Stratasys, 3D Systems, EOS, are companies like Sailner, ‘the low-cost 3D printing brand in China.’
Sailner is catching the eye of many a TCT Asia visitor thanks to its colourful medical models, and operating 3D printing platforms which promise multi-colour and multi-material printing capabilities. It’s a company that was founded in 2000, and next year will begin to sell its hardware internationally.
The WJP Education and Medication systems present at the show are joined by a third machine designed for industrial use. WJP stands for White Jet Process, and is similar to the PolyJet method of building parts layer by layer – a thin layer of photosensitive resin is printed and quickly cured by an ultraviolet light, with the build tray dropping as the process restarts. Support structures are printed in water soluble material to ensure a quick and easy removal.
sailner rib cage
Rib cage and internal organs model.
The parts Sailner is showcasing range from pre-surgical guides to customised insoles to eyewear products. Sailner suspects its WJP Medication machine will have the biggest impact, able to print multiple colours and multiple materials, applications like surgical guides can be further enhanced – a tumour printed in green, blood vessels in red and the rest of the organ in white, for example. On the stand Sailner presented a hand model which had a rubbery texture that could be easily penetrated with a knife, and a rib cage and internal organs model, which took a total of 30 hours to print. The company was also exhibiting an open skull model, which had been printed after a brain tumour sufferer’s MRI scan.
At this time, the WJP Medication system is only being used for R&D and education purposes within hospitals, but perhaps later this year will start to have a real influence on the way medical professionals approach complex surgeries. From 2019, the machines will also be accessible to international customers for the first time.
