20 Sep 3D printed absorbable prosthesis: Felfil Evo and LATTICE MEDICAL

How Felfil Evo could help biomedical research?

We want to tell you the story of LATTICE MEDICAL, a French company that developed a biodegradable device used for breast reconstruction after a mastectomy. Felfil Evo has been used to make research on the materials, resulting in a huge saving of money for the company.

LATTICE MEDICAL AND THEIR INNOVATIVE DEVICE

Here’s some data to start: one woman out of eight develops breast cancer of which the 40% have a mastectomy as a cure. But the 86% of them will not be able to have a reconstruction after surgery because of unfitting actual techniques. LATTICE MEDICAL tries to answer to clinical and psychological needs of these women thanks to an implantable device called MATTISSE.

What is their product? MATTISSE is a personalized 3D printed absorbable prosthesis which regenerates damaged tissue in a natural way.

It takes just one surgery in which the device is implanted and filled with the own patient’s fat cells. After six months the breast tissue is regenerated and the prosthesis is fully absorbed by the body. The goal is to replace silicon-based implants with this device, that will be used as a shell to ensure the final volume.

HOW FELFIL EVO WAS USED

LATTICE MEDICAL has used Felfil Evo to turn bioabsorbable medical grade pellets into a filament in order to 3D-print the device. The materials adopted by the company are medical grade polymers such as Polylactic Acid (PLLA), Polyglycolic Acid (PGA) or co-polymers blocks.

Since these materials are really expensive (one kg could cost thousands of Euros), trials could cost a lot of money. The advantage of using Felfil Evo is that only a small quantity is required to extrude the filament, rather than classic filament extruders that need around 10 kgs of materials instead.

CROWDFUNDING

If you support the idea behind the project, this month you can contribute to the fundings via an equity crowdfunding platform “WiSEED”.