Implants, Orthopedics, Maxillo-Facial & 3D printing

Send us an MRI / CT scan and we’ll rapidly send you a 3D print, or medical model, that you hold in your hand!

3D Printing medical models is rapidly taking hold.  Take a jawbone reconstruction surgery for example.  A patient’s MRI is taken and 3D printed into a 3D medical model, a plate is created with a perfect fit before O.R. reducing time in O.R. by 45 minutes!

The medical uses are growing, but, right now we are seeing it used in orthopedics, maxillo-facial, plastic surgery, implants, and pediatrics to name a few.

Medical Uses:

Pre-surgery planning- implant pre-contouring, screw trajectories and locations, and technique rehearsal
Physician communication- 3D prints to collaborate with physicians
Patient presentation tool- describe the procedures at hand with an actual model of the patient
Medical student education- medical models of actual cases the students can interact with
Custom prosthesis- combined with detailed 3D scanning techniques custom prosthesis design and production is at your fingertips

3D Printed Implants?
Most of our medical models are used before the surgery.  This has all changed with EBM, Electron Beam Melting, that build solid parts fusing metal powder layer by layer.  Arcam is the leading manufacturer of EBM.  Custom parts are made from medical grade materials and have the added ability to fix itself to the hosting bone by integrating engineering porous “lattice” work into the parts.  All parts are medical grade materials such as Ti6Al4V ELI, Ti Grade 2 and Cobalt-Chrome.

Learning:
3D printing for medicine is a new concept that many don’t even know exists.  Take a look at the following resources that we have compiled that include actual cases.

An overview of 3D printing for medicine with some case examples. (PDF- 1.33MB)

Rapid Prototyping for Baghdad- a great resource of actual case files using 3D printing

Custom medical grade implants using EBM technology

• Case 1- Fixa Ti-Por Acetabular Cup
• Case 2- Maastricht Implant
• Case 3- Prototal

What do we need for a 3D print?
We will need your DICOM images from either an MRI or CT scan in order compile them together in one complete 3D model.  Feel free to upload them here….

If you have any questions on how we may be able to help integrate 3D printing into your project or if you have a project call or email us and we’d be glad to help, or you can follow us on Twitter for the latest on 3D printing.