Table 1 Descriptive information on the machines, materials and process (manufacturing of a proximal femur model) details for each AM technology

Machine

MARS 3 (and Mercury Plus wash and curing station)

Prusa MINI

Objet500 Connex3

Technology

masked stereolithography

material extrusion

material jetting

Build area (mm)

143 × 90 × 175

180 × 180 × 180

490 × 390 × 200

Resolution (X/Y/Z axis) (dpi)

600

600

600/600/1600

Accuracy (µm)

35

≤ 300

200

Estimated purchase price (EUR)

400

500

150,000

Licensed for medical use

no

no

yes

Used material (commercial name)

photopolymer (ELEGOO Water washable photopolymer resin in white)

thermoplastic (Prusament PETG in signal white)

photopolymer (VeroPureWhite) and support (SUP706 B)

Material costs per radius model (EUR)

0.54/0.37/0.48 in horizontal/vertical/diagonal orientation

0.74/0.66/0.81 in horizontal/vertical/diagonal orientation

8.27/12.27/18.58 in horizontal/vertical/diagonal orientation

Material costs per femur model (EUR)

6.36

7.83

66.63

Manufacturing duration for radius model (hr:min)

02:20/05:40/06:22 (42:00 for 18 models)

03:25/03:10/04:20 (62:16 for 18 models)

01:56/06:48/07:43 (16:21/27:00/43:31 for six models) in horizontal/vertical/diagonal orientation

Manufacturing duration femur model (hr:min)

10:02

13:37

7:30

Major post-processing steps

Removing support

Washing model

Letting model dry

Curing model

Cleaning machine

Removing support structures by hand

Removing support material with water

Washing in 2% NaOH

Estimated post-processing duration per model (min)

25

< 5

30

Estimated total duration per femur model (hr:min)

10:30

13:40

8:00

Waste

isopropyl alcohol

thermoplastic support structures

support material