Ricoh has developed a new 3D inkjet printing technology that makes it possible to produce full-color plastic components with high mechanical strength and biocompatibility. The system is based on material jetting and addresses key weaknesses of previous processes, particularly in terms of strength and color design freedom.
Until now, processes such as stereolithography have mostly been used for medical and design-oriented applications such as dentures or spectacle frames. Although these allow the implementation of complex geometries, they usually only provide single-colored components with limited structural stability. Material jetting processes, on the other hand, offer a variety of colors, but usually do not achieve the required mechanical properties for functional components.
Ricoh now combines specially developed UV-curable inks with functional fillers that ensure both the strength and jetability of the materials. The printing platform uses translucent white and clear resins as a base onto which highly concentrated cyan, magenta and yellow inks are applied. This enables precise color transitions and textured surfaces to be achieved, for example to reproduce natural tooth colors and shapes.
The resulting components meet the requirements of the Japanese standard JIS T 10993-1 with regard to biocompatibility and are therefore suitable for medical use. The first applications have already been implemented in a dental laboratory in Yokohama. There, the technology is being tested for the production of long-term dentures that are not only functional but also aesthetically pleasing.
In addition to dentistry, applications in the manufacture of spectacles and epitheses are also conceivable, according to Ricoh. The combination of mechanical resilience, colour accuracy and medical safety could form the basis for new digital manufacturing processes in personalized healthcare and the design industry.
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