Titanium cochlear hearing aids additively manufactured on Eplus3D EP-M260
June 15, 2022
Eplus3D, Hangzhou, China, has announced that a customer has used its EP-M260 Laser Beam Powder Bed Fusion (PBF-LB) Additive Manufacturing machine to produce deep-ear cochlear hearing aids from Ti6Al4V, at a manufacturing cost of just CNY 25 (US $3.72) per device.
After using 3D scanning technology to capture detailed ear anatomy, the customer then additively manufactured the thin-walled outer shell of the hearing aid from titanium alloy. The resulting wall thickness, as thin as 0.2 mm, is around half that of traditionally manufactured options and offers increased accuracy and more comfort for the wearer.
A total of 150 outer shells can be additively manufactured per build plate, with a total build time of thirty hours.
The deep-ear hearing aids are said to have a matching success rate 64% higher than those traditionally produced, while the use of titanium over polymer can also help avoid irritation in the ear canal.
