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Materialise NV
Materialise NV, headquartered in Leuven, Belgium, is a company in the 3D printing / additive manufacturing sector.
Materialise was founded in June 1990 by Wilfried Vancraen and his wife Hilde Ingelaere as a Rapid Prototyping service bureau. It was the first company of its kind in the Benelux region of Europe, through the acquisition of a single Stereolithography machine (the SLA 1).
In 1992, Materialise began mapping human anatomy digitally in three dimensions, using sliced CT image data, which lead to the development of its medical image processing software: Mimics. Concurrently, the team was also developing its industrial software solution, Magics. Both of these software solutions were later commercialized to promote growth.[citation needed]
In 1995, Materialise became the first company to produce 3D printed parts in more than one colour, specifically at this time for anatomical models produced using the stereolithography process to delineate the complexities of the anatomy (such as nerves, blood vessels and tumours) and allow surgeons to more precisely plan for operations.[citation needed]
The company developed and produced the first customised 3D printed surgical guide for a dental operation in 1996. These personalised guides were utilised during surgery to show surgeons bone cutting and drilling locations to apply implants. This knowledge was used to develop Materialise SimPlant software, allowing the surgeon to virtually plan the surgery and minimize invasive exploratory surgery.[citation needed]
The company launched one of the first 3D printing online ordering systems in 1997, Materialise NextDay, which later became Materialise OnSite. This service allowed 3D printing service customers to send digital 3D data, which could be printed and shipped the next day.[citation needed]
Demand for prototypes grew, leading Materialise to develop its Mammoth Stereolithography systems, which are capable of printing single-piece models with dimensions of more than 2 meters in the Y axis.[citation needed]
In the year 2000, hearing aid specialist Phonak approached Materialise to develop the Rapid Shell Modeling (RSM) software. This allowed the design process for customized, patient-specific hearing aid shells to become automated. The resulting designs could then be 3D printed to produce the customised hearing aids. This was the first high volume, end-use application of 3D printing, and today, 99% of the world's hearing aids are now produced using 3D printing.
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Materialise NV
Materialise NV, headquartered in Leuven, Belgium, is a company in the 3D printing / additive manufacturing sector.
Materialise was founded in June 1990 by Wilfried Vancraen and his wife Hilde Ingelaere as a Rapid Prototyping service bureau. It was the first company of its kind in the Benelux region of Europe, through the acquisition of a single Stereolithography machine (the SLA 1).
In 1992, Materialise began mapping human anatomy digitally in three dimensions, using sliced CT image data, which lead to the development of its medical image processing software: Mimics. Concurrently, the team was also developing its industrial software solution, Magics. Both of these software solutions were later commercialized to promote growth.[citation needed]
In 1995, Materialise became the first company to produce 3D printed parts in more than one colour, specifically at this time for anatomical models produced using the stereolithography process to delineate the complexities of the anatomy (such as nerves, blood vessels and tumours) and allow surgeons to more precisely plan for operations.[citation needed]
The company developed and produced the first customised 3D printed surgical guide for a dental operation in 1996. These personalised guides were utilised during surgery to show surgeons bone cutting and drilling locations to apply implants. This knowledge was used to develop Materialise SimPlant software, allowing the surgeon to virtually plan the surgery and minimize invasive exploratory surgery.[citation needed]
The company launched one of the first 3D printing online ordering systems in 1997, Materialise NextDay, which later became Materialise OnSite. This service allowed 3D printing service customers to send digital 3D data, which could be printed and shipped the next day.[citation needed]
Demand for prototypes grew, leading Materialise to develop its Mammoth Stereolithography systems, which are capable of printing single-piece models with dimensions of more than 2 meters in the Y axis.[citation needed]
In the year 2000, hearing aid specialist Phonak approached Materialise to develop the Rapid Shell Modeling (RSM) software. This allowed the design process for customized, patient-specific hearing aid shells to become automated. The resulting designs could then be 3D printed to produce the customised hearing aids. This was the first high volume, end-use application of 3D printing, and today, 99% of the world's hearing aids are now produced using 3D printing.