Design of the tool for production of ear ventilation tubes

Abstract

This work deals with a development of a tool for ear ventilation tube production. Ear tubes are medical devices, which allow ventilation and provide pressure equalization in the middle ear cavity for prolonged period of time; in case of repetitive inflammation. These implants are normally made from metals or classical polymeric materials. Whereas, today, the effort is to develop bioresorbable tubes based on polylactic acid, which could replace currently used material. The benefit provides no requirement of secondary surgery for their removal. The size of ear implants is only in millimetres and the tool for their manufacturing requires a special technology. In this paper, two tubes and a transfer mold for their production was designed using 3D CAD software Catia V5R18. Subsequently, the special manufacturing process for the mold cavity plates using the rapid prototyping and electroforming technology was proposed. The designed tool is intended for biodegradable tubes, which will be further tested in the laboratory. © (2014) Trans Tech Publications, Switzerland.