Binder Jetting of Custom Silicone Powder for Direct Three-Dimensional Printing of Maxillofacial Prostheses

Yun Chang Lee; Jisi Zheng; Jonathan Kuo; Giovanny F Acosta-Vélez; Chase S Linsley; Benjamin M Wu

doi:10.1089/3dp.2021.0019

Binder Jetting of Custom Silicone Powder for Direct Three-Dimensional Printing of Maxillofacial Prostheses

3D Print Addit Manuf. 2022 Dec 1;9(6):520-534. doi: 10.1089/3dp.2021.0019. Epub 2022 Dec 13.

Authors

Yun Chang Lee^{1

2

3}, Jisi Zheng⁴, Jonathan Kuo⁵, Giovanny F Acosta-Vélez^{2

3}, Chase S Linsley⁵, Benjamin M Wu^{2

3

5

3

6

7

8}

Affiliations

¹ Department of Mechanical and Aerospace Engineering, Samueli School of Engineering, University of California, Los Angeles, California, USA.
² Weintraub Center for Reconstructive Biotechnology, School of Dentistry, University of California, Los Angeles, USA.
³ Division of Advanced Prosthodontics, School of Dentistry, University of California, Los Angeles, USA.
⁴ Department of Oral Surgery, Shanghai Ninth People's Hospital, Shanghai Jiao Tong University School of Medicine, Shanghai, China.
⁵ Department of Bioengineering, Samueli School of Engineering, University of California, Los Angeles, USA.
⁶ Department of Materials Science and Engineering, Samueli School of Engineering, University of California, Los Angeles, USA.
⁷ Department of Orthopaedic Surgery, David Geffen School of Medicine, University of California, Los Angeles, USA.
⁸ Department of Materials Science and Engineering, University of California, Los Angeles, Los Angeles, California, USA.

Abstract

Recent advances in digital workflow have transformed clinician's ability to offer patient-specific devices for medical and dental applications. However, the digital workflow of patient-specific maxillofacial prostheses (MFP) remains incomplete, and several steps in the manufacturing process are still labor-intensive and are costly in both time and resources. Despite the high demand for direct digital MFP manufacturing, three-dimensional (3D) printing of colored silicone MFP is limited by the processing routes of medical-grade silicones and biocompatible elastomers. In this study, a binder jetting 3D printing process with polyvinyl butyral (PVB)-coated silicone powder was developed for direct 3D printing of MFP. Nanosilica-treated silicone powder was spray dried with PVB by controlling the Ohnesorge number and processing parameters. After printing, the interconnected pores were infused with silicone and hexamethyldisiloxane (HMDS) by pressure-vacuum sequential infiltration to produce the final parts. Particle size, coating composition, surface treatment, and infusion conditions influenced the mechanical properties of the 3D-printed preform, and of the final infiltrated structure. In addition to demonstrating the feasibility of using silicone powder-based 3D printing for MFP, these results can be used to inform the modifications required to accommodate the manufacturing of other biocompatible elastomeric materials.

Keywords: 3D printing; biofabrication; digital dentistry; maxillofacial prosthetics; silicone.