Here are six key updates in the 3D printing industry for spine and orthopedics.
Baltimore-based University of Maryland Medical Center partnered with the U.S. Department of Veterans Affairs to expand and refine its 3D-printing surgical planning program ,which it uses for its cardiology and orthopedic programs.
3D printing company PrinterPrezz is supporting orthopedic surgeon education in spine and arthroplasty through OMeGA Medical Grants Association. Stryker, DePuy Synthes, Zimmer Biomet and Medtronic also support OMeGA's goals for orthopedic education.
Researchers from RMIT University's Advanced Manufacturing Precinct in Melbourne, Australia, are using 3D printing for bone replacements after they developed the country's first 3D printed spinal implant, which was successfully used in a 2015 procedure. The 3D printed lattice cage was developed for a patient suffering from a rare spinal defect which prevents one vertebra from forming completely.
A 3D printed spine implant designed at University Medical Center Utrecht in the Netherlands helped a 16-year-old boy walk again. The teenage boy suffered from neurofibromatosis, which caused his spine to become unstable and collapse. The 3D implant was used to prevent complete paralysis.
Belfast, Northern Ireland-based axial3D raised $3 million in a funding round to facilitate its growth into the U.S. The funding will help axial3D develop and adopt its 3D printing device, which seeks to improve the efficacy of surgical operations including orthopedics.
A team of College Station-based Texas A&M University engineers and physicians are using 3D printed simulators and visualized performance data to enhance orthopedic surgeon residencies. The team received an Orthopaedic Research and Education Foundation grant, which is funded by the American Board of Orthopaedic Surgery.