World’s largest contract manufacturer of medical devices and implants adds metal Additive Manufacturing
April 20, 2018
Concept Laser Mlab cusing R machine
US-based Norman Noble, the world’s largest contract manufacturer of medical devices and implants, has taken delivery of its first Additive Manufacturing machine from GE Additive’s Concept Laser division at its plant in Highlands Heights, Ohio.
Following the installation of the new Mlab cusing R machine, the team at Norman Noble plans to develop shape-set tooling for processing nitinol based rapid prototypes for a number of applications. The company states it will build on its existing implant manufacturing capabilities by exploring the potential of producing metal AM vascular stents and orthopaedic implants.
“Norman Noble will utilise this new 3D printing technology to support rapid prototyping capabilities for nitinol parts, and as a manufacturing solution for prototype-to-production of our customers’ next-gen vascular and orthopaedic implant designs,” stated Brian Hrouda, Director Global Sales and Marketing at Norman Noble.
Additive manufactured parts often require complex geometries and internal features. Norman Noble uses a Computed Tomography system to perform 100% inspection of part dimensions and critical features.
“Norman Noble’s plans to use metal-based additive technologies to explore stent production are really exciting. Until now Additive Manufacturing applications in cardiology have been polymer models for preoperational training and visualisation, so it will be interesting to see how things progress over the coming years,” said Stephan Zeidler, Business Development Manager for the medical sector at Concept Laser.
www.nnoble.com | www.ge.com/additive
