How does GHOST work without a printed model?
Instead of a resin model, GHOST uses a reconfigurable tool made of 20,000 pins, each 0.3 mm in diameter and placed to within 0.1 mm. A lab supplies an STL or OBJ file, and Fyous's PinPoint software translates it into pin positions that mirror the patient's arch. The machine heats a PETG, EVA or PU sheet and presses it over the pins. Once the appliance is done, the pins reposition for the next case in the queue. Quality is checked digitally against the source file, and Fyous says the results match or beat those from printed models.
What problem is it aimed at?
Most aligners and retainers start with a printed, washed and cured resin model that is used once. Formnext Magazine cites around 1.1 million such models a day, mostly discarded. Labs carry the cost of resin, isopropyl alcohol, printer time, labour, storage and disposal. Fyous targets about five minutes per appliance against roughly 45 minutes for the printed-model route, with up to 180 appliances per batch and around 60,000 per year per machine. Retainers come first.
Where does it sit against direct-printed aligners?
Direct printing of aligners removes the model but puts resin into the mouth for long daily wear, and few such resins have published biological evaluations. GHOST keeps established thermoforming materials and removes only the model. Fyous calls the principle Polymorphic Manufacturing and says it could apply to other short-run parts that rely on disposable moulds or patterns. The company is backed by Al Siblani and Scott Crump.