CPC Class B33Y

A nozzle for additive manufacturing includes a plasma gas tube operable to provide plasma gas to a plasma flame, and a source material tube arranged concentrically inside the plasma gas tube such that the source material passes through the plasma flame. An apparatus and method for additive manufacturing are also disclosed.

A material deposition system and method is disclosed for depositing material onto raised features on a surface of a substrate. The material deposition system and method are a contact deposition or printing system and method, which employs biased rollerball to deposit the material as it travels along the substrate and over the raised features.

A system for three-dimensional (3D) printing edible objects, the system including: a first 3D printer including: a first processor; one or more cartridges for storing ingredients used in printing a 3D printed edible object, a plurality of extruders for extruding the ingredients during printing of the 3D printed edible object and a plurality of relays coupled to the plurality of extruders. A first cartridge stores a first ingredient while a second cartridge stores a second ingredient that may be different from the first ingredient. A first extruder extrudes the first ingredient and a second extruder extrudes the second ingredient in a synchronized motion. A first subset of the plurality of relays is configured to control the first extruder and a second subset of the plurality of relays is configured to control the second extruder.

Methods of manufacturing dental prosthesis/implants each to replace a non-functional natural tooth positioned in a jawbone of a specific pre-identified patient are provided. An example method includes the steps of receiving imaging data such as x-ray image data and surface scan data of a dental anatomy and/or a physical impression of the dental anatomy of a specific preidentified patient. The steps can also include forming a three-dimensional virtual model of at least portions of a non-functional natural tooth positioned in the jawbone of the specific pre-identified patient based on the imaging and surface scan data, virtually designing a dental implant based upon the virtual model, exporting the data describing the designed dental implant to a manufacturing machine, and custom manufacturing the dental implant for the specific patient.

A patient-specific porous metal prosthesis and a method for manufacturing the same are provided. The orthopedic prosthesis may be metallic to provide adequate strength and stability. Also, the orthopedic prosthesis may be porous to promote bone ingrowth.