A topology optimization workflow for interfaces with anatomy-based designs

Abstract

Generative design and especially topology optimization tools can greatly decrease production time and costs of additive manufacturing. Routine use of generative design workflows has rapidly increased over the last years in many different areas of mechanical design and additive manufacturing. Anatomically integrated applications have proven to be more challenging due to the difficulty of combining the high variability and complexity of anatomical structures with the necessary rigidity and simplicity of parameters for accurate topology optimization. As demonstration of this method three different support structures for the patient specific Lübeck Neuro-Angiography Simulator (Lu:NAS) were designed and SLA 3D printed. The topology optimization resulted in a 66 % decrease of resin usage and 39 % shorter printing time compared to the manually designed original geometry while retaining equivalent structural support of the anatomical model. Therefore, this method presents a simple and fast approach to effectively integrate topology optimization into a variety of anatomy-based design and 3D printing workflows, lowering associated costs significantly.