The global 3D bioprinting market — currently valued at $965 million — is expected to grow at a CAGR of nearly 20% up to the mid 2020s, driven by increased healthcare demands, but also to overcome the supply bottlenecks and ethical issues associated with organ donation and tissue repair. Bioprinting also caters for the increased demand for customized patient-specific healthcare solutions, a trend that is only likely to accelerate moving forward.

FELIXprinters has established itself as a key player in the supply of mid-priced highly accurate industrial additive manufacturing (AM) machines, and has been independently assessed as the only credible rival to Ultimaker in terms of quality and cost-effectiveness in industrial AM*. The company’s reputation is built upon the Pro 3, Pro L, and Pro XL platforms, which are used throughout an array of industry sectors for challenging AM production applications.

The FELIX BIOprinter has been developed on the chassis of the established FELIXprinters product line, meaning that at its heart is the tried and tested technology that has already been serving manufacturers for years. The printer is characterized by key features that are specifically designed for medical, scientific, and research applications, including syringe cooling, print bed cooling and heating, a dual head system, easy syringe positioning (ergonomic access to the machine supports researchers in their work), and automatic bed levelling.

Wilgo Feliksdal, Co-Founder of FELIXprinters says, “The BIOprinter has been designed to be the ultimate bio research instrument in a cost-effective package. It has been developed alongside the brightest minds in the bioprinting sector, and we partnered with training4crm and the Technical University of Denmark (DTU), and received funding from the European Union Horizon 2020 Programme to develop the BIOprinter. Uniquely, the BIOprinter combines dual sterilizable printheads which have a modular design for easy changeovers, and separate heads are available to print different bio-inks at the same time. This integrates different material properties into a single scaffold structure.”

The BIOprinter has automatic bed levelling through the use of a unique probing systems which results in a perfect first layer, which means a quality end result. The BIOprinter also retracts with a highly precise motor for better dosage or materials and more accurate material flow versus alternative air pressure systems.

Feliksdal continues, “The BIOprinter consists of an adaptable and flexible ecosystem to ensure that it can meet a wide range of researchers’ needs without generating unnecessary costs. One major advantage is the source control system which enables the user to use standard slicing software and make changes themselves if needed. Also, syringes are not restricted to expensive brand-specific or in-house produced products that essentially drive up operating costs. The machine instead has been designed to use a standard 5ml syringe, and standardized petri dishes and culture plates, so there are no limitations on auxiliary parts and materials.

Users of the BIOprinter benefit from the fact that print heads are easy to sterilize, which eliminates the likelihood of contamination. The BIOprinter is hand-made in the Netherlands, and has undergone testing for 24 hours before being issued with CE certification. The machine is WIFI and LAN enabled, comes with a one-year warranty, and lifetime customer support.

The FELIX BIO is appropriate for all types of bio-printing research, and is equipped with strong motors that can extrude a range of different viscosity of materials. In addition, the BIOprinter has been designed to be easily upgradeable, which means that the lifecycle of the machine can be extended without compromising quality, reliability, and productivity.

* Toon Meynen, Trideus, Belgium, 2019.

The post FELIXprinters Announces Commercial Launch of the FELIX BIOprinter appeared first on FELIXprinters.

FELIXprinters had working examples of its range of industrially-oriented additive manufacturing (AM) platforms, and reinforced its position as perhaps the key supplier of industry’s most affordable, accurate, repeatable, easy-to-use, and upgradeable AM platforms.

Front and centre on the booth at Formnext were the company’s Pro L and Pro XL larger build envelope machines which were independently reviewed in 2019 as being the only commercially available AM platforms that can rival the industry-standard Ultimaker machines. The machines were both working at the show, and visitors were shown an impressive array of complex industrial builds for which the FELIX technology platforms are ideally suited.

The Pro L and Pro XL machines are respected throughout industry due to their strength, robustness, and quality of build, and today can be seen to out-perform alternatives in all important areas and for an array of exacting industrial applications. FELIXprinters’ AM platforms are synonymous with exceptional quality, and all shipped platforms are subject to a stringent 24-hour quality test before delivery to its customers.

A real show-stopper at Formnext, however, was the newly introduced FELIX BIO platform that was for the first time available for pre-order for shipping at the beginning of 2020.

Co-owner Wilgo Feliksdal says, “The FELIX BIO printer is based on the same chassis as the whole FELIXprinters product line, and is characterized by key features that are specifically designed for medical, scientific, and research applications, including syringe cooling, print bed cooling and heating, a dual head system, easy syringe positioning (ergonomic access to the machine supports researchers in their work), and automatic bed levelling.”

At the heart of the FELIX BIO is the source control system which enables the user to use standard slicing software and make changes themselves if needed. Syringes are not restricted to expensive brand-specific or in-house produced products that essentially drive up operating costs. The machine instead has been designed to use a standard 5ml syringe, and standardized petri dishes and culture plates, so there are no limitations on auxiliary parts and materials.

The FELIX BIO has some unique characteristics which include retraction capability, impossible on alternative air pressure systems. This is vital for optimized dosage of materials and accurate material flow. The FELIX BIO is also designed so that the print heads are easily sterilizable, and they are also modular units that can be changed easily. In addition, the FELIX BIO has a unique probing system which results in a perfect first layer the foundation of precise and accurate printing results.

Guillaume Feliksdal, co-owner sums up by saying, “Being present at events such as Formnext is vital for us. Not only does it provide us with an obvious opportunity to demonstrate our machines and prove their accuracy and robustness in industrial applications, but it also means we can discuss specific applications with our customers. This is central to everything that we do at FELIX. We do not sell AM boxes, we sell AM solutions, and central to everything that we do is to supply solutions that are ideally suited to customer requirements. As such, we are unique in the lower cost high accuracy area of 3D printing in offering truly customized solutions. This plays to the disquiet that everyone understands that many vendors are purely motivated by hitting sales targets rather than providing optimized customer solutions.”

The post Major Success for FELIXprinters at Formnext appeared first on FELIXprinters.