Onsite 3D Printing Clean Room for Hospital Medical Devices
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Solution Overview
Problem
The complexity and expense of tracing, monitoring, and managing medical devices in hospitals, along with the risks associated with their transportation and cumbersome ordering processes, hinder efficient medical practice and patient care.
Innovation Solution
A self-contained three-dimensional printing installation with a production module and a separate clean room, equipped with a 3D printer, disinfection, and packaging machinery, allows for onsite manufacturing of medical devices, ensuring transparency, safety, and efficient tracing and monitoring through a short supply chain, using a powder selective laser sintering machine and recycling capabilities.
Engineering Contradictions & Design Principles
Engineering Contradiction Analysis
1Reliability
If medical devices are procured through traditional supply chains, then hospitals can obtain medical devices, but the tracing and monitoring becomes complex and expensive
Solution Approach 1:
The patent extracts the manufacturing process from external suppliers and places it directly within the hospital premises through an integrated 3D printing installation. This eliminates the complex external supply chain while ensuring reliable device availability, as the hospital can manufacture devices on-demand without dependence on external procurement processes
Solution Approach 2:
The hospital becomes self-sufficient in manufacturing medical devices through in-house 3D printing capabilities. The installation enables the hospital to produce its own medical devices, eliminating the need for external suppliers and complex ordering processes, thereby simplifying the supply chain while maintaining device availability
2Reliability
If medical devices are transported to hospitals, then devices can be delivered, but transportation hazards and delivery delays occur
Solution Approach 1:
The patent removes the transportation step from the device delivery process by extracting manufacturing from external locations and placing it within the hospital. This eliminates transportation hazards entirely while ensuring devices are available when needed, as they are produced on-site rather than transported
Solution Approach 2:
The system enables preliminary manufacturing of medical devices within the hospital before they are needed. Devices can be produced in advance and stored, or manufactured on-demand, eliminating the need for transportation and associated delays or hazards
3Quantity of substance
If wholesale ordering is used, then hospitals can manage stock, but the ordering process becomes cumbersome and requires multiple stakeholders
Solution Approach 1:
The hospital performs self-service manufacturing through the 3D printing installation, eliminating the need for wholesale ordering and stock management. Devices are produced on-demand based on actual needs, simplifying the process to a single internal decision-making step rather than involving multiple external stakeholders
Solution Approach 2:
The system transitions from static wholesale stock management to dynamic on-demand manufacturing. The installation allows the hospital to adjust production based on real-time needs, eliminating the rigidity of predetermined wholesale orders and complex inventory management
4Ease of manufacture
If 3D printers are equipped in hospitals, then onsite manufacturing is possible, but the total printing process becomes complex and expensive
Solution Approach 1:
The patent merges multiple previously separate functions (3D printing, washing, disinfection, packaging) into a single integrated installation. This consolidation simplifies the overall process by eliminating the need for separate equipment and coordination between multiple systems, reducing both complexity and cost
Solution Approach 2:
The installation is designed as a multi-functional system that performs manufacturing, sterilization, and packaging operations within a single unit. This universal approach eliminates the need for separate specialized equipment, reducing complexity while maintaining comprehensive functionality
Applied Scientific Principles
This section explains which scientific principles are used to turn an abstract innovation direction into a practical engineering solution.
Function Achieved in This Case
This solution reduces the hazards and costs associated with medical device delivery and management, simplifies the ordering process, and enables hospitals to choose the best-suited devices for patients by enabling direct onsite printing and sterilization, improving transparency and reducing logistical risks.
Implementation Method 1
the production module comprises a powder selective laser sintering (SLS) machine
Data Source
AI summary
The invention relates to an installation (1) for the three-dimensional printing of a medical device directly at a location where the medical device is to be used.According to the invention, the installation comprises a container (2) comprising inside it:a production module (3) comprising a 3D printer (6);a clean room (4) comprising means (12) for washing and disinfection of the printed medical device, and a machine (13) for packaging the washed and disinfected medical device.