Is it possable to make a sterile feeding syringe with a 3d printer?
Shouldn’t be impossible. You have to get a model of it first, though.
The reason I ask is because they stopped making O-ring syringes that lasted forever, now they have the horrible plunger syringes. I know a lot of people in the special needs community would love to see it (and honestly, need it to) come back. So getting a model isn’t a problem since it’s already an actual product. Is there a way to make them sterile?
I would think that would largely depend on the type of printer and the material being used. Nothing I can print should be considered sterile or food grade.
I’m GUESSING that you’ll want to use an o-ring or two on the plunger to make an liquid-tight seal. So I would start by finding an o-ring that suits the size of the syringe you want then design the rest of the syringe’s specs around that.
The design of the syringe itself is probably simple enough that you could do it with http://Tinkercad.com if you don’t already have software.
You’ll also want to print it slowly, with a small nozzle and small layers to get the inside of the syringe as smooth as possible – although the o-ring would give you wiggle room.
Certainly doable… but you’ll want your printer dialed in properly, so probably not a great first project to print.
EDIT: Search “syringe” on Thingiverse. Lots of designs already there.
I wonder if just packaging them while in a UV sterilizer would work…
There are food save filaments that you can use, just Google it and choose your brand.
There’ll be two concerns people are concerned about. Sterile and leeching. I wouldn’t want to boil or autoclave it since it would probably deform, but soap and water (and a good rinse), alcohol or other anti-nasty, or UV should take care of that. For leeching, the time the contents would spend in the tube probably negates that worry, regardless of the print material used. I’d be FAR more worried about leftovers microwaved in a plastic container than I would a slurry placed in and expelled from a tube at room temperature.
That’s the great thing about the o-ring syringes, you can just trow them in the dishwasher. The original o-ring syringes didn’t deform at all, unlike the big rubber stopper they use now.
Acetone vapor smoothing might be an idea. I am pretty sure the people printing dildos do that if they do not dip their item in plastidip. I do not think plastidip is an optiin here.
Now I need to figure out what the best printer would be to do this with.
Probably any printer that can print ABS and has a heated bed. Printing slow seems to be the most reliable way to get good prints.
How many are you wanting to make? If it is alot, perhaps a silicone mold and some resin would work for molding your parts. Printing takes time and effort.
I have a syringe with a rubber gasket on the end. Is this suitable. I think it is a livestock syringe from Farm&Home.
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That’s exactly what the new ones look like. This is what the orings look like
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You could probably slip an O-ring around the rubber gasket of the syringe that I showed a picture of. If that is not appealing, you could print just a replacement for the rubber gasket, snap in the replacement and put an O-ring around that. If you want to do things more from scratch, some food safe plastic pipe from the hardware store and 3D printed parts could be used. That is how some people make their clay extruders and large chocolate extruders.
Oh. Another option is to look for flavor injector syringes from grocery stores and stores like Wal-Mart, K-Mart or Target.
If people are wondering why I am pushing less 3D printing in the project, it is the microscopic cracks and pores that will hold bacteria and help liquids leak out. Also because sometimes you need to know if 3D printing is the best solution. In this case, I think it could be 3D printed, but doing that will not getthe best results. I also have the feeling that the person wants to buy a 3D printer for the projext which might give disappointing results. 3D printing is not always the best way to get things done and it is important to realize that.
I completely agree with Nathaniel. The more one gets into 3d printing the more they must resist the urge to 3d print everything. It is not always the best process for every job despite it’s versatility.
That being said if you do want to continue, look into Taulman3d’s filaments. Taulman’s filaments are geared towards industrial, technical, and medical uses. They have several filaments that are made from certified food safe and FDA approved polymers. Some like Nylon680 even can be sterilized by certain processes. Nylon also has a lower coefficient of friction and may be less likely to wear an oring down as quickly.
Note that some filaments like nylon require higher printing temperatures and a heated bed. Not as many printers can do the higher printing temperatures without a hotend swap that may cost $80+ and not all printers come with a heated bed. Not everyone is capable of swapping out their hotend either.