Project Spotlight: IGF - Non-planar 3D Printing on Textiles

Project in focus #1: IGF - Non-planar 3D printing on textiles

What if orthoses could be lighter, smarter and perfectly tailored to each patient? 🦾
This is precisely the aim of our IGF project "Non-planar 3D printing on textiles". Together with our partner FILK Freiberg Institute gGmbH, we are developing innovative processes that combine textile materials with 3D-printed structures - even on curved and flexible surfaces.
💡 The aim: to develop cost-efficient, patient-specific orthoses with integrated conductive tracks - and thus pave the way for applications in intelligent and telemedical devices.
🧩 Our research focuses on:
Selecting and testing textile and printing materials for optimal adhesion and flexibility
Development of adaptive tensioning systems for precise printing on stretchable fabrics
Use of robotic arms for multidirectional 3D printing on complex geometries
Embedding silver-based conductive webs for sensor integration
With this project, we are pushing the boundaries of additive manufacturing and medical technology 4.0 - combining comfort, function and intelligence in next-generation wearable devices.

The IGF research project 01IF23514N of the research association Forschungskuratorium Textil e. V. is funded by the AiF as part of the program for the promotion of "Industrial Collective Research (IGF)" with funds from the Federal Ministry of Economics and Climate Protection on the basis of a resolution of the German Bundestag.