Case Study - 3D printed case of a patient monitor

Company: Emtel is a Polish supplier of medical equipment specialized in the production of patient monitor.

Project : Production of a new patient monitor model case prototype with the use of 3D printing technology to evaluate its ergonomics, dimensions, and accuracy.


 
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Project Description

3D print The case of patient monitor FX3000P
Use Evaluation of ergonomics, dimensions, and accuracy of prototype
Material PLA (used 1.6 kg / item)
3D Printer 3DGence ONE
Milling 3D printing
Time 30 days 5 days
Cost 470 £ per part 47 £ per part

Goals

1. Cost reduction at the stage of creating models and prototypes

The production cost of one patient monitor case made by external companies is about 500 EUR. Additionally, at the stage of forming the prototype, it is necessary to produce around 2 or 3 versions of the same model. EMTEL reduced production costs of models up to 90%. The cost of a single 3D print is around 50 EUR.

2. Speed-up of project processing at the stage of models and prototypes verification

The production process of models and prototypes made by external enterprises takes minimum one month. Ownership of a 3D printer allows quickly make a designed model in 1:1 scale with satisfactory accuracy. The prototype of the patient monitor was received in 5 days which reduced expectation time up to 25 days.

3. Project verification through the installation of target components in the 3D printed casing

During the production of the case to patient monitor FX3000P, the expected precision was not worse than 0.2mm, especially in the mounting brackets. 3D printouts allowed to verify all critical dimensions of the project, it enabled to implement proper corrections.

4. Approvement of documentation to injection mold production

Fast prototyping of new patient monitor model through precise verification of project assumptions, ergonomy, installation and validation of dimensions was only able due to the use of a 3D printer. The final details obtained with the use of injection technology did not require any corrections.

An optimal solution for entrepreneurs who want to avoid high costs and downtime at work and to easily prepare new versions of their devices may be the introduction of 3D printing. This technology allowed EMTEL to shorten the time needed by constructors and engineers to create and test products. Earlier, EMTEL commissioned patient monitor to be prepared for an external company, which raised costs and extended the duration of the entire process. Thanks to 3D printing, the company achieved a tenfold reduction in costs and shortening the production of housing.

Emtel
The patient monitor casing prototype was made with the use of a professional 3D printer.
The patient monitor casing prototype was made with the use of a professional 3D printer.
Visualization of the patient monitor case in the software - 3DGence Slicer 4.0
Visualization of the patient monitor case in the software - 3DGence Slicer 4.0

3D printers allow to make a design model in 1:1 scale, very fast, with satisfactory accuracy, enable verification of all dimensions, ergonomics, and assembly of internal components

In a very short period of time we managed to introduce a new FX300P patient monitor into production.


Technical engineer at Emtel



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