Renishaw.
Renishaw RenAm 500M
Two RenAM 500M machines have been installed at the University of Birmingham's School of Material and Metallurgy.
A centre for custom medical devices is to be established at the University of Birmingham after the installation of two metal additive manufacturing systems.
Two Renishaw RenAM 500M machines have been delivered to the university's School of Materials and Metallurgy.
The adoption of metal 3D printing within the Materials and Metallurgy department represents a significant development at the university. The resulting hub will lean on contributions from academia, and clinical and industrial practices. It will aim to improve time to market and provide better devices to patients. One project, for example, is targeting cranioplasty, since the procedure has a high infection rate, while another will see the institution work with Accentus Medical to produce customised cranial plates, again to reduce infections.
University of Birmingham’s selection of Renishaw’s additive manufacturing machines, meanwhile, has much to do with the company’s familiarity in dealing with medical professionals, as well as the technology’s design benefits, and its support of Ti6Al4V, AlSi10Mg alloy, and stainless steel 316L, among other metal materials. The company’s 3D printing portfolio can be harnessed to manufacture a number of medical, and dental, applications, such as surgical guides, implants, and plates. And the University of Birmingham has taken head of those use cases, and moved to bring the technology in-house.
“Using the technology, we have the flexibility in implant geometry and material choice,” commented Dr. Sophie Cox, Lecturer at the Healthcare Technologies Institute, University of Birmingham. “We chose Renishaw because of its experience as a custom medical device manufacturer. Renishaw has a wealth of expertise in taking medical devices to market.
“As a university, we are working towards ISO 13485, something Renishaw has already achieved. This partnership is just the beginning of a pipeline of activities, where we will align our research capabilities with Renishaw’s know-how to realise the benefits of additive manufacturing for patients.”