A system and method for forming a medical implant using a printing device. The printing device includes a print head having a heated nozzle, a heated build plate for receiving the printed material thereon, and a reflective plate having an active heater. A method for forming a medical device includes extruding a printing material by contiguous deposition to form a porous object having a lattice-like structure. The medical device, such as a spinal implant, may have interconnected pores and different regions, each having a different porosity for encouraging bone growth therein. The printed medical implant may be designed to be patient-specific, customized, and printed on-demand.

A method includes obtaining image(s) of a dental device, determining file(s) including at least one of a first model of the dental device or a second model of a mold, determining an intended property for the dental device based on at least one of the first model or the second model, and determining an actual property of the dental device from the image(s). The method further includes determining whether a cutline variation, an arch variation, and/or a bend of the dental device is detected between the dental device and the first model and/or the second model by comparing the intended property with the actual property. The method further includes determining whether there is a possible defect in the dental device based on whether the cutline variation exceeds a cutline variation threshold, the arch variation exceeds an arch variation threshold, and/or the bend exceeds a bend threshold.

The present disclosure relates generally to manufacturing pharmaceutical products using additive manufacturing technology. An exemplary printing system comprises: a material supply module for receiving a set of printing materials; a flow distribution module comprising a flow distribution plate, wherein the material supply module is configured to transport a single flow corresponding to the set of printing materials to the flow distribution plate; wherein the flow distribution plate comprises a plurality of channels for dividing the single flow into a plurality of flows; a plurality of nozzles, wherein the plurality of nozzles comprises a plurality of needle-valve mechanisms; one or more controllers for controlling the plurality of needle-valve mechanisms to dispense the plurality of flows based on a plurality of nozzle-specific parameters; and a printing platform configured to receive the dispensed plurality of flows, wherein the printing platform is configured to move to form a batch of the pharmaceutical product.

The present invention relates to monolithic intravaginal rings comprising progesterone, methods of making, and uses thereof. The intravaginal rings comprise progesterone, a polysiloxane elastomer, and a pharmaceutically acceptable hydrocarbon or glycerol esters of a fatty acid.

Embodiments relate to an aligner breakage solution that tests damage to an aligner using machine learning. A method includes of training a machine learning model to predict damage to an orthodontic aligner includes gathering a training dataset comprising digital designs for a plurality of orthodontic aligners, wherein each digital design is associated with a respective orthodontic aligner of the plurality of orthodontic aligners, and wherein each digital design comprises metadata indicating whether the associated respective orthodontic aligner was damaged during manufacturing of the associated respective orthodontic aligner. The method further includes training the machine learning model using the training dataset, wherein the machine learning model is trained to process data from a digital design for an orthodontic aligner and to output a probability that the orthodontic aligner associated with the digital design will be damaged during manufacturing of the orthodontic aligner.

Various methods of additive layer manufacturing, and objects obtainable by such manufacturing, are disclosed. In particular, there is provided a method of additive layer manufacturing comprising depositing a layer of a material on a surface, and controlling the deposition to vary a material property of the material within the layer. There is also provided a method of additive layer manufacturing comprising depositing at least one layer of material on a sacrificial layer, the layer of material having a thickness of 400 microns or less, wherein the sacrificial layer is located on a base surface.

Implementations describe systems and methods for manufacturing and performing quality assessment of dental appliances. In one embodiment, a method of manufacturing a dental appliance comprises receiving, at a holder, a feature of the dental appliance, the feature comprising a first surface having a first shape, wherein the holder holds the feature of the dental appliance at a reference position. The method further includes automatically placing an object against the feature at the reference position using a robot arm, wherein the object comprises a second surface having a second shape that mates with the first shape. The method further includes applying pressure to press the object against the feature of the dental appliance and bonding the object to the feature of the dental appliance while applying the pressure.

An active anvil assembly for use in forming a looped suture is provided. The active anvil assembly includes an anvil member, a first sensor operably connected to the anvil member, and a control assembly. The first sensor is configured for measuring at least one of force, torque, and distance feedback. Also provided are systems and methods for forming a looped suture including an active anvil assembly.

Systems and methods for controlling a pump system for use in negative pressure wound therapy are described herein. In some embodiments, a method for controlling a pump system includes causing provision of negative pressure, via a flow path, to a wound dressing configured to be positioned over a wound, the flow path configured to fluidically connect the pump system to the wound dressing, measuring a first pressure value in the flow path at a first time, measuring a second pressure value in the flow path at a second time, calculating a first rate of pressure change using the first and second pressure values, and in response to determining that the calculated first rate of pressure change satisfies a threshold rate of change, providing an indication that the wound dressing is full, wherein the method is performed under control of a controller of the pump system.

A preheating arrangement includes a preheating device defining a first plane by a first centerline along a first axis and a second centerline along a second axis perpendicular to the first axis. A first preheating structure is asymmetric with respect to the first and/or the second centerline. A second preheating structure is oriented like the first preheating structure such that, when viewed along a third axis perpendicular to the first plane, the preheating structures are arranged one above the other. A first actuator rotates the preheating device between first and second positions and the preheating structures in the first position have a first orientation and in the second position a second orientation rotated around the axis of asymmetry by 180° or in which they are rotated by an angle α in the range of 0°<α<360°, or 90°≤α≤270° or α=180° around the third axis compared to the first orientation.