Design and fabrication of a sleep apnea device using computer-aided design/additive manufacture technologies.

The aim of this study was to analyze the latest innovations in additive manufacture techniques and uniquely apply them to dentistry, to build a sleep apnea device requiring rotating hinges. Laser scanning was used to capture the three-dimensional topography of an upper and lower dental cast. The data sets were imported into an appropriate computer-aided design software environment, which was used to design a sleep apnea device. This design was then exported as a stereolithography file and transferred for three-dimensional printing by an additive manufacture machine. The results not only revealed that the novel computer-based technique presented provides new design opportunities but also highlighted limitations that must be addressed before the techniques can become clinically viable.

Citation

Noor Al Mortadi, Dominic Eggbeer, Jeffrey Lewis, Robert J Williams. Design and fabrication of a sleep apnea device using computer-aided design/additive manufacture technologies. Proceedings of the Institution of Mechanical Engineers. Part H, Journal of engineering in medicine. 2013 Apr;227(4):350-5

Mesh Tags

PMID: 23637210

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