Additive manufacturing of radiological phantoms

Patent metadata

Field	Value
Publication number	US-12521082-B2
Application number	US-201917419845-A
Country	US
Kind code	B2
Filing date	Dec 30, 2019
Priority date	Dec 31, 2018
Publication date	Jan 13, 2026
Grant date	Jan 13, 2026

Abstract

A formulation usable as a modeling material formulation in additive manufacturing of a three-dimensional object and additive manufacturing methods utilizing same are provided. The formulation comprises one or more curable materials; and a radiopaque material, and features, when hardened, a CT number of at least 100 HU at 70 kV. Objects made by the additive manufacturing method utilizing the formulation are usable as radiological phantoms.

First claim

What is claimed is:

1 . A modeling material formulation usable in additive manufacturing of a three-dimensional object, the formulation comprising:
one or more curable materials which are photopolymerizable materials that polymerize and/or undergo cross-linking upon exposure to radiation; and a radiopaque material in an amount that ranges from 5 to 50%, by weight of the total weight of the formulation, wherein said radiopaque material is a curable material which is a photopolymerizable material that polymerizes and/or undergoes cross-linking upon exposure to radiation and which contains one or more photocurable groups and one or more radiopaque elements or one or more groups containing a radiopaque element, wherein said radiopaque element is bromine, and wherein said one or more curable materials comprise one or more monofunctional curable material(s) featuring, when hardened, Tg lower than 20° C. and/or one or more multifunctional curable material(s) featuring, when hardened, Tg lower than 20° C., the formulation featuring, when hardened, a CT number of at least 100 HU at 70 kV.

2 . The formulation of claim 1 , featuring, when hardened, a CT number of at least 500 HU at 70 kV.

3 . The formulation of claim 1 , wherein the three-dimensional object is a radiological phantom.

4 . The formulation of claim 1 , wherein the additive manufacturing is 3D inkjet printing.

5 . The formulation of claim 1 , featuring a viscosity of from 8 to about 50, centipoises at 75° C.

6 . The formulation of claim 1 , wherein an amount of said radiopaque material ranges from 5 to 30%, by weight of the total weight of the formulation.

7 . The formulation of claim 1 , wherein said curable materials are UV-curable materials which polymerize and/or undergo cross-linking upon exposure to UV irradiation.

8 . The formulation of claim 7 , further comprising a photoinitiator.

9 . The formulation of claim 8 , wherein an amount of said photoinitiator ranges from 2 to 6%, by weight of total weight of the formulation.

10 . The formulation of claim 1 , wherein said one or more curable materials comprise one or more monofunctional curable material(s) featuring, when hardened, Tg higher than 50° C.

11 . The formulation of claim 10 , wherein a total amount of said one or more monofunctional curable material(s) that features, when hardened, Tg higher than 50° C. ranges from 20% to 40%, by weight of total weight of the formulation.

12 . The formulation of claim 1 , wherein a total amount of said one or more monofunctional curable material(s) featuring, when hardened, Tg lower than 20° C. ranges from 5 to 15, % by weight of the total weight of the formulation.

13 . The formulation of claim 1 , wherein said one or more curable materials comprise one or more multifunctional curable material(s) featuring, when hardened, Tg higher than 50° C.

14 . The formulation of claim 13 , wherein a total amount of said one or more multifunctional curable material(s) featuring, when hardened, Tg higher than 50° C. ranges from 5% to 15%, by weight of total weight of the formulation.

15 . The formulation of claim 1 , wherein a total amount of said one or more multifunctional curable material(s) featuring, when hardened, Tg lower than 20° C. ranges from 15 to 25, % by weight of the total weight of the formulation.

16 . A method of additive manufacturing a three-dimensional object, the method comprising dispensing at least one modeling material formulation to sequentially form a plurality of layers in a configured pattern corresponding to a shape of the object, wherein for at least a portion of said layers, said at least one modeling material formulation is the formulation of claim 1 .

17 . The method of claim 16 , wherein said dispensing is via one or more 3D inkjet printing arrays.

18 . The method of claim 16 , further comprising exposing at least a portion of the dispensed layers to a curing condition to thereby obtain a hardened formulation featuring said CT number, said curing condition comprising irradiation.

19 . A three-dimensional object comprising, in at least a portion thereof, a hardened material that features a CT number of at least 100 HU at 70 kV, obtained by the method of claim 16 .

Assignees

• Stratasys Ltd

Inventors

• Dikovsky Daniel
• Ravich Diana
• Levy Avraham
• Klein Ben

Classifications

• B29K2995/0018

  having particular optical properties, e.g. fluorescent or phosphorescent · CPC title

• B29C64/112

  using individual droplets, e.g. from jetting heads · CPC title

• B33Y70/00

  Materials specially adapted for additive manufacturing · CPC title

• B33Y10/00

  Processes of additive manufacturing · CPC title

• G01R33/58

  Calibration of imaging systems, e.g. using test probes {, Phantoms; Calibration objects or fiducial markers such as active or passive RF coils surrounding an MR active material} · CPC title