Design & Development Case Studies & White Papers

1. Prototype Tooling Can Help Avoid Product Launch Delays And Cost Overruns 11/19/2019

   The process for launching a product with an injection-molded component has continuously developed over decades. Prototype tooling plays an important role in this process.

2. 3-D Printing Creates Big Innovation From Tiny Parts For Medtech Firm 11/5/2019

   Many new health care technologies have advanced over the past decade to enable doctors to perform more procedures in their offices over hospital only settings. However, hysteroscopy — used to identify or treat problems of the uterus — has been slower to respond to this shift. 

3. Medtech Startup Smells Success With Additive Manufacturing 10/28/2019

   Combining the sense of smell with rapidly evolving virtual reality (VR) technology — enabling medical applications including helping soldiers with post-traumatic stress disorder (PTSD)— is the mission of OVR Technology, a startup in Burlington, Vt.

4. Part Marking Using Pad Printing And Laser Engraving 9/23/2019

   When designing parts for injection molding, you may need to consider finishing options, which can help improve a part’s mechanical properties, enhance surface finishes, facilitate the final assembly process, or just further customize your part or parts.

5. PEEK, PEI, LSR, And Other Material Options For Medical Prototyping 9/11/2019

   Developing medical device parts is a high-stakes process, and material choice is an important decision. Five strong contenders include PEEK, PEI, and PPSU; polycarbonates; medical-grade liquid silicone rubber; and 3D-printed titanium and ABS-like WaterShed XC 11122. 

6. Actionable Insights For The Pharmaceutical And Biotech Industry 9/6/2019

   Enhancing project management with analytics creates project intelligence, shifting a task-based activity to a performance-driven one. This article discusses the importance of using actionable insights within pharmaceutical and biotech industries and the benefits that they provide.

7. Use Color Matching To Customize Molded Parts 8/28/2019

   Product designers often need their manufacturing suppliers to produce plastic injection-molded parts that are Pantone color-matched to company specifications. Protolabs' injection molding service offers custom color matching on customer-provided Pantone numbers and on customer-provided part samples.

8. A Novel Method For Chemical Recycling Of PLA Under Mild Conditions 8/14/2019

   Using the newly discovered process, different grades of PLA can be removed from a stream of commingled plastics and broken down to give high value chemicals. 

9. Advancing Bioabsorbable Scaffolds With Polymer Technology 8/14/2019

   Treating CAD with bioresorbable vascular scaffolds (BRS) is considered by many to be the “next revolution” in endovascular therapy. This paper presents the basics of BRS technology, its processing and manufacturing challenges, and its advantages in use with polymer technologies.

10. Tie Layer: A Breakthrough Solution To Catheter Failure 8/14/2019

    Product engineers at catheter manufacturing companies will be only too aware of the problem of delamination – the separation of material layers within the catheter.  The solution lay in the design of an additional material layer between the inner etched PTFE liner and the outer jacket material of the catheter. This extra layer would deliver the crucial adhesion required to prevent delamination, ideally without increasing the outer diameter of the finished catheter.