Materialise are one of the forerunners in 3D printing within the medical field, its an old statistic that get trotted out fairly often but nevertheless, the Belgian all-round 3D printing experts printed over 130,000 patient specific devices in 2013 alone. That number will only have increased in the subsequent two years and now Materialise has invested in additional medical production capacity stateside.
The move strengthens the position of Materialise Mimics Innovation Suite as a sophisticated medical backbone solution for healthcare professionals. Materialise’s commitment to continuously improve the Mimics Innovation Suite has led to its increased use in hospitals, and other clinical settings and has driven expansion of Materialise operations in the U.S. market. The expansion further enables a complete range of 3D surgical planning options to support patient-specific treatment, and the capacity to expediently provide anatomical models in the US market.
By providing virtual planning software linked with fully integrated Materialise 3D print services, clinicians and surgeons can use vital supplemental information to simulate or evaluate the best options for patient-specific treatment, and facilitate clear communication with patients, co-workers and/or surgical teams. Materialise HeartPrint, for instance, registered as a class 1 medical device in the US, aids cardiovascular specialists in helping plan patient care and select the necessary tools to treat complex cases such as congenital heart surgery or aortic aneurysm interventions.
Materialise Patient
Ariana Smith, a 17-year-old Taylor teen, became the first patient at the Children’s Hospital of Michigan, a part of the Detroit Medical Center (DMC), and the first in Michigan, to benefit from a revolutionary 3D printed heart model, produced by Materialise that helped heart specialists in selecting the right tools for her treatment.
Materialise continues to evolve its Mimics Innovation Suite capabilities and has made a new version of software that caters to clinicians with a desire to use 3D printing in their case planning. “As a beta participant for Materialise’s latest medical software innovation, I have witnessed the power of their 25 years ‘of experience in medical 3D printing with this software. Materialise is clearly focused on meeting the evolving needs of clinicians, and in being the software solution for the 3D printing process in hospitals.” stated Frank Rybicki, MD, PhD., a long time Materialise collaborator.
“Unlike many existing products which only work with a limited number of the 3D printing solutions, Materialise’s 510(k) cleared software connects to all 3D printing technologies. We are excited to expand our capacity, technology breadth and increase our responsiveness to the needs of clinicians. It is this focus that led our expansion in the U.S.,” stated Bryan Crutchfield, Managing Director at Materialise USA.
Materialise has a 25 year track record of providing leading-edge, 3D visualization and printing solutions to their extensive list of hospital, academic and medical device customers. With all of these great minds working together, the future of patient-specific treatments is looking bright. For more information on Materialise software and solutions for Medical 3D Printing, visit biomedical.materialise.com.
