Fyous GHOST named (R)Evolution Award finalist ahead of Formnext 2026 debut
Fyous, the Sheffield-based developer of PolyMorphic Moulding, has been named one of three finalists for the (R)Evolution Award at Formnext 2026. The shortlisted entry is GHOST, a model-free pressure former that makes clear aligners and retainers without a 3D-printed model.
The Formnext Awards jury selected GHOST alongside Thought3D's Drywise inline filament dryer and Boston Micro Fabrication's microArch S150 micro-precision printer. The winner will be announced on Thursday 19 November at 4.10pm on the Industry & Application Stage in Hall 11.0.
Formnext describes the (R)Evolution Award as recognising "groundbreaking products, technologies, or services that offer exceptional added value for users". It is one of six Formnext Award categories, alongside the AMbassador, Design, Rookie, Start-up and Sustainability Awards.
Voting is open to everyone
The public vote counts as an additional jury vote, so every click carries weight. Voting takes two clicks, with no email address or sign-up required. Select Fyous, then submit.
Voting closes at 12 noon CET on Thursday 19 November 2026, a few hours before the ceremony. Visitors at the show can also vote using the QR codes at the Formnext Awards showcase in Hall 11.0, Booth F60.
Dental's model problem
Dental is one of additive manufacturing's largest production applications, and clear aligners are a major part of that volume. Almost every aligner and retainer made today starts the same way: a lab prints a resin model of the patient's teeth, then thermoforms a plastic sheet over it.
The model is printed, washed, cured and used once. It is then stored or thrown away. Formnext Magazine puts the number of resin models produced for dental appliance manufacturing at around 1.1 million a day, most of which end up in landfill.
That workflow carries costs that labs feel every day: resin, isopropyl alcohol, printer time, post-processing labour, storage space and waste disposal. It also keeps uncured resin handling at the centre of the lab.
How GHOST works
GHOST removes the model from the process entirely. In place of a printed part, it uses a reconfigurable tool made from 20,000 individual pins, each 0.3mm in diameter and positioned to within 0.1mm.
The lab loads a standard STL or OBJ file. Fyous's PinPoint control software converts it into instructions that set the pins into a negative of the patient's arch. GHOST then heats a standard PETG, EVA or PU thermoforming blank and pressure forms it over the pins. The finished appliance is stored for collection, the pins reset, and the next file in the batch starts automatically.
There is nothing to print, wash, cure, store or dispose of. The finished appliances are dimensionally equivalent to or better than those formed over a 3D-printed model, and with no physical model, quality control is checked digitally against the source file. The appliance itself is made from the same established thermoforming materials labs already use, with decades of intraoral history behind them.
Fyous is targeting a full cycle of around five minutes per appliance, including pin configuration and forming, compared with around 45 minutes for a print-based model workflow. Each machine runs batches of up to 180 appliances, with an annual capacity of around 60,000 appliances after changeover and servicing. Retainers are the first application.
Why it matters for additive manufacturing
The direct-print aligner has dominated much of the industry conversation. It promises to remove the model by printing the appliance itself, but it moves resin from the lab into the patient's mouth for extended daily wear. Only a small number of direct-print resins have published biological evaluations, and labs adopting it take on new materials, new validation work and new compliance questions.
GHOST takes a different route. It keeps the proven materials and the familiar thermoforming step, and removes the part of the workflow that adds cost without adding value to the patient: the throwaway model.
Fyous calls this approach Polymorphic Manufacturing: physical tooling that changes shape digitally, case by case, with no new tool made each time. Dental is the first market for the technology, and the principle applies wherever short-run or one-off parts depend on disposable moulds, models or patterns.
"We've spent 6 years in R&D with PolyMorphic Moulding. GHOST is the culmination of that work," said Josh Shires, CEO and Co-Founder of Fyous.
Fyous has raised more than £3.5 million to date, with backing from former EnvisionTEC CEO Al Siblani and Stratasys co-founder Scott Crump, and reports £1 million in pre-orders for GHOST.
See GHOST at Formnext 2026
Formnext 2026 runs from 17 to 20 November at Messe Frankfurt. GHOST will be shown in public for the first time on the Fyous stand, F22 in Hall 11.0, together with sample appliances.
The Fyous team is available throughout the show to demonstrate the machine and discuss purchase, distribution and commercial partnerships. Josh Shires is available for press interviews during the show.
To book a meeting at Formnext, contact the Fyous team. Labs ready to commit can reserve a GHOST build slot.
Key details
Award: Formnext (R)Evolution Award 2026, finalist
Vote: app.sli.do, closes 12 noon CET, 19 November 2026
Ceremony: 19 November, 4.10pm, Industry & Application Stage, Hall 11.0, D72
Fyous stand: Hall 11.0, Stand F22
Awards showcase: Hall 11.0, Booth F60
Show dates: 17 to 20 November 2026, Messe Frankfurt
