Claims for Patent: 8,470,231

Summary for Patent: 8,470,231

Title:	Three-dimensional printing process for producing a self-destructible temporary structure
Abstract:	The invention relates to additive manufacturing (AM) and in particular to a degradable material for use in applications that require temporary structure stability, such as in investment casting or biomedical applications or as a temporary support material.
Inventor(s):	Dikovsky; Daniel (Rehovot, IL), Napadensky; Eduardo (Netanya, IL)
Assignee:	Stratasys Ltd. (Rehovot, IL)
Application Number:	12/791,433
Patent Claims:	1. A three dimensional printing method for producing a self-destructible temporary structure, comprising: depositing a degradable material solution comprising a degradable component; depositing a disintegrating agent solution comprising a disintegrating agent capable of disintegrating the degradable component; solidifying a combined disintegrating agent and degradable material solution to form a solid, semi solid or gel layer; and repeating said steps of depositing and solidifying layers until the self-destructible temporary structure is formed, wherein after solidification, the disintegrating agent gradually degrades the degradable component to disintegrate the self-destructible temporary structure. 2. The method of claim 1 wherein depositing the degradable material solution and the disintegrating agent solution is done by one or more inkjet printing heads. 3. The method of claim 1, wherein the disintegrating agent solution and the degradable material solution are combined immediately before deposition. 4. The method of claim 1, wherein a combination of the disintegrating agent solution and the degradable material solution occurs after deposition, within a deposited layer. 5. The method of claim 1, wherein the disintegrating agent is an enzyme, catalyst, acid or a base. 6. The method of claim 5, wherein the enzyme is an esterase, a trypsin, a collagenase, a cellulase or a dextranase. 7. The method of claim 1, wherein the disintegrating agent is in an isolated state and wherein the disintegrating agent is released and activated during or after deposition of a three-dimensional printing process by an external trigger. 8. The method of claim 1, wherein the degradable component is a photopolymer, a wax or a combination thereof. 9. The method of claim 1, wherein the degradable component is a polymer. 10. The method of claim 9, wherein said polymer is a copolymer, a block-copolymer, a photopolymer, a polysaccharide, reactive polymer-protein hybrid molecules, a biosynthetic hydrogel material or a wax. 11. The method of claim 10, wherein said copolymer comprises polyethyleneglycol (PEG) or poly(acrylic acid) or poly(hyaluronic acid) or polycaprolactone or poly(vinyl alcohol). 12. The method of claim 1, wherein the degradable material solution further comprises any one of a reactive solvent, a non-reactive solvent, a surfactant, a photoinitiator, a viscosity modifier, a rheology modifier or any combination thereof. 13. The method of claim 1, wherein the disintegrating agent solution further comprises any one of a reactive solvent, a non-reactive solvent, a surfactant, a photoinitiator, porous nanoparticles, a viscosity modifier, a rheology modifier or any combination thereof. 14. The method of claim 1, wherein the disintegrating agent decomposes at least one chemical bond or at least one physical bond within the degradable component. 15. The three dimensional printing method of claim 1, wherein combination of the disintegrating agent solution and the degradable material solution is controlled by a dedicated software so that the volumetric ratio between the degradable material solution and disintegrating agent solution can be modulated during printing. 16. The three dimensional printing method of claim 1, wherein the disintegrating agent solution comprises a liquid phase that is insoluble in the degradable material solution. 17. The three dimensional printing method of claim 1, wherein the disintegrating agent solution comprises a solid or gel phase that is insoluble in the degradable material solution. 18. The three dimensional printing method of claim 1, wherein the disintegrating agent solution comprises nanoparticles filled with the disintegrating agent and the disintegrating agent is released by an external trigger. 19. The method of claim 1 comprising: controlling disintegrating agent concentration of the disintegrating agent in each deposited layer based on desirable rates of degradation for each of the deposited layers, wherein the disintegrating agent concentration within a first deposited layer is lower than the disintegrating agent concentration in an upper deposited layer. 20. The method of claim 1, wherein the self-destructible temporary structure provides support for a three-dimensional object during building of the three-dimensional object by a three-dimensional inkjet printing system.

Details for Patent 8,470,231

Applicant	Tradename	Biologic Ingredient	Dosage Form	BLA	Approval Date	Patent No.	Expiredate
Smith & Nephew, Inc.	SANTYL	collagenase	Ointment	101995	06/04/1965		2029-06-01