3D + Additive - January/February 2026

PHOTOS COURTESY OF RESPECTIVE COMPANIES

3D-printed implant milestone

Contract manufacturer Amnovis has shipped its 100,000th 3D-printed implant, a milestone coinciding with the company’s fifth anniversary. The implant was Promethean Restorative’s FDA-approved sacroiliac (SI) fixation device.

To meet growing demand, Amnovis is actively expanding its production capacity for medical devices and other high-performance applications. The company has developed and validated several innovations, some of which have already been transferred into production, while others are progressing through pilot and R&D phases:

• Heat treatment-free titanium: 3D-printed pure titanium that meets ASTM standards without requiring heat treatment. This validated material is used in spine, craniomaxillofacial, and orthopedic applications.

• Deformable implants: A patented concept, currently being co-developed with customers for market entry, enabling patient-specific implants by deforming highly porous regions of standardized components.
• CuperNova: An IP-protected powder modification method that enhances the laser absorptivity of copper alloys, improving shelf life and flowability while enabling printing with standard lasers. Amnovis is scaling powder modification and pilot manufacturing lines for industrial applications.
• Multi-metal 3D printing: Currently in R&D, Amnovis is developing capabilities to print components using two or more metals via L-PBF.

Amnovis
https://www.amnovis.com

Digital CAD model platform

PrecisionX Group launched its 3D Design Hub, a digital platform providing engineers with immediate access to CAD drawings for more than 15,000 standard deep drawn components, including precise technical specifications and fully editable models. Users can download, customize, and integrate high-quality CAD models directly into their development workflows, reducing lead times and accelerating speed to market.

The 3D Design Hub offers instant access to high-quality component models traditionally requiring lengthy specification processes or custom modeling work. The platform eliminates design bottlenecks and supports faster prototyping, more efficient design iterations, and reduced development costs.

PrecisionX Group
https://precisionxmfg.com

Silicone 3D printing material

P3 Silicone 25A, a high-performance, general-purpose silicone developed by Stratasys and Shin-Etsu, has been launched commercially. The 3D printable material, designed for the Stratasys Origin DLP platform, enables production of flexible parts matching the performance of traditionally molded silicone. It addresses a longstanding gap in industrial additive manufacturing (AM) – the need for genuine silicone parts offering precision, durability, and repeatability without the time and cost constraints of injection molding.

P3 Silicone 25A delivers the chemical resistance, thermal stability, and mechanical behavior of conventional silicones while enabling manufacturers to eliminate tooling, reduce lead times, and support localized, low-volume production. The material has been validated in thermal aging tests up to 1,000 hours at 150°C and passed biocompatibility and flame retardancy certification.

Silicone is essential for applications such as seals, gaskets, vibration dampers, wearables, and soft-touch components. A 3D printable version enables the expansion of AM in production environments as manufacturers seek to customize products, streamline inventory, and accelerate time to market. P3 Silicone 25A is the first in a planned portfolio of silicone materials co-developed by Stratasys and Shin-Etsu, with additional hardness levels and application-specific variants expected in the future.

Shin-Etsu Silicone
https://www.shinetsusilicone-global.com

Stratasys
https://www.stratasys.com