Stents and methods for producing stents are provided. The stent includes a polymeric substrate comprised of 10-50% (w/w) of alginate and 45-85% (w/w) of gelatine and further includes a polymeric biodegradable resin for coating said polymeric substrate. The stent can also include a contrast agent. The stent can further include a crosslinking agent. The method for producing the stent includes dissolving the alginate and gelatine in water and stirring to obtain a polymeric substrate. The method also includes adding a crosslinking agent to the substrate, injecting the substrate into a mold to obtain the stent, placing the stent in a first alcohol solution, and placing the stent in a crosslinking agent solution. The method further includes placing the stent in a second alcohol solution, and a series of interchanging drying and immersing steps.

A carrier for carrying an ophthalmic lens comprises:

a basket (10) comprising a basket wall defining a concave cavity for accommodating an ophthalmic lens (100), the basket further comprising at least three recesses (12) arranged in the basket wall at different locations along the circumference of the basket (10); and

a retainer (20) comprising at least three retainer arms (21) arranged in a star-shaped configuration corresponding to the arrangement of the recesses (12) along the circumference of the basket (10).

In an assembled state each retainer arm (21) of the retainer (20) engages with a corresponding one of the recesses (12) in the basket wall of the basket (10) to retain the ophthalmic lens (100) in the cavity.

Low waste methods for three-dimensional printing techniques are provided. A method includes performing a preceding additive infusion process including: solubilizing an additive into a medium in a supercritical fluid state; contacting a preceding material with the medium to infuse a portion of the additive into the preceding material to form a preceding additive-infused material; and separating remaining additive from the medium. Further, the method includes performing at least one succeeding additive infusion process including: solubilizing the remaining additive and, optionally, additional additive, into the medium in a supercritical fluid state; and contacting a succeeding material with the medium to infuse at least a portion of the remaining and additional additive into the succeeding material to form a succeeding additive-infused material, wherein the medium from the preceding additive infusion process is reused in the at least one succeeding additive infusion process.

An apparatus and method for surface finishing of articles made from a polyamide material and produced by additive manufacturing is disclosed. Articles are heated in a treatment chamber and brought into contact with the vapor of a process material, such as pure acetic acid, at an operating temperature few degrees above the boiling temperature of the process material and at a pressure above atmospheric pressure. The result is a transient softening of a surface layer and consequent material reflowing that smooths surface unevenness. Once the contact time between the vapor and the surface of the article has elapsed, pressure is quickly reduced to atmospheric pressure and the liquid and vapor present in the treatment chamber are sent to a process material recovery unit. Before removing the treated article, the treatment chamber is cooled, washed and dried.

Disclosed is a method for treating objects produced by an additive manufacturing process which have at least one surface formed from a polymer with a glass transition temperature of at least 120? C., and preferably are formed from such a polymer, and in which the surface of the object is brought into contact with an organic or inorganic solvent. By such a treatment, the surface of the objects can be smoothed and relevant mechanical properties can be improved. Further disclosed are three-dimensional objects produced according to such a method and to the use of organic or inorganic solvents to reduce the surface roughness and/or to improve the mechanical properties and/or the chemical resistance.

The disclosure provides a process for treatment of an article (1) made of a polymer composition; comprising the steps of providing an article (1) with a surface, the article being made of a polymer composition comprising one or more polyolefins; providing one or more texturing solvents (3, 5, 7, 9) selected from one or more vegetable oils, one or more terpenes, one or more alkanes and any combination thereof; wherein the one or more texturing solvents (3, 5, 7, 9) are further selected to have a boiling point which is above the crystallisation temperature Tc of the one or more polyolefins and to be devoid of a halogenated atom and/or an aromatic group; contacting the surface of the article (1) with the one or more texturing solvents (3, 5, 7, 9); and recovering an article with a textured N surface with water contact angle following ISO 19403-6:2017 that is increased by comparison to the initial water contact angle.

A polymerizable liquid, or resin, useful for the production by additive manufacturing of a three-dimensional object of polyurethane, polyurea, or a copolymer thereof, is described. The resin includes at least one of (i) a blocked or reactive blocked prepolymer, (ii) a blocked or reactive blocked diisocyanate, or (iii) a blocked or reactive blocked diisocyanate chain extender.

A method for manufacturing a three-dimensional molded product capable of performing support at high accuracy using a support material having sufficient hardness and rigidity, capable of removing the support material efficiently after molding, and requiring no finishing step in manufacturing a three-dimensional molded product by an inkjet optical molding method, and a three-dimensional molded product manufactured by this method. A roughly molded product formed from a model material forming a molded product and a support material supporting the shape of the model material during molding is immersed in a washing liquid. The support material swells at a swelling ratio of 10% or more, and is thereby peeled from an interface with the model material having a swelling ratio of 1% or less. Then, the support material is easily and completely removed without applying an external force. Furthermore, a three-dimensional molded product can be manufactured with high accuracy and high efficiency.

Augmented three-dimensional (3D) printing systems and methods for constructing and mineralizing a hydrogel structure with defined geometry are disclosed. One example embodiment is a system for three-dimensional printing and mineralizing a polymer. The system includes a three-dimensional printer unit with a syringe extruder, a fluid delivery system operatively coupled to the three-dimensional printer unit, and a control unit. The control unit is operatively coupled to the three-dimensional printer unit and fluid delivery system, and is configured to (i) cause the three-dimensional printer unit to print a portion of a three-dimensional polymer object, (ii) cause the fluid delivery system to flush the portion of the three-dimensional polymer object with a fluid to mineralize the portion of the three-dimensional polymer object, and (iii) cause the three-dimensional printer unit to print a subsequent portion of the three-dimensional polymer object. Applications of embodiments include manufacturing of tooth, bone, and other biomaterial articles.

A system for manufacturing a three-dimensional object facilitates the removal of support material from the object. The system includes a controller configured to move a platen to position the object at a position opposite a microwave radiator and then operate the microwave radiator to change the phase of the support material from solid to liquid. The controller either monitors the expiration of a predetermined time period or a temperature of the object to determine when the microwave radiator operation is terminated. The microwave radiation does not damage the object because the support material has a dielectric loss factor that is greater than the dielectric loss factor of the object.