Laser Lines installs Stratasys J750 Digital Anatomy 3D Printer into CPI’s National Healthcare Photonics Centre
Laser Lines, the UK’s most established reseller of 3D printers and materials, today announces it has installed the Stratasys J750 Digital Anatomy 3D Printer in CPI’s National Healthcare Photonics Centre. The Centre is a unique combination of bio-labs and instrument development facilities where companies can work alongside CPI staff in state-of-the-art facilities for the development of medical technology using photonics.
The Centre, which was supported with a £7.9m grant from the Government’s Local Growth Deal through the North East Local Enterprise Partnership, includes capabilities in optical system design and test (including testing with ionising radiation or x-rays), imaging, printing and manufacture.
Trends in the MedTech market are changing to meet the requirement for more personalised and less invasive care, moving away from hospital-based services. New approaches in imaging and diagnostics therapies are helping to meet these challenges.
The Stratasys J750 Digital Anatomy 3D Printer enables the production of realistic body parts based on actual patient-specific scan data and is part of this trend. Multi-material anatomical models constructed using the data captured by hospital imaging systems lets surgical teams, consultants and their patients make better-informed decisions before embarking on surgery or a treatment regime.
Wayne Morton, senior mechanical design engineer at CPI, says: “Anatomy is incredibly difficult to design and replicate. Trying to model a human with a particular injury or syndrome using traditional techniques is virtually impossible until now.
CPI’s investment means that it can now use actual patient data to print several identical copies of that patient’s body part. For example, surgeons who want to be able to practise before an operation takes place, can print a replica of that actual patient’s organ with all of its anomalies. The surgeon can print the part as many times as needed before the procedure. Previously, animal, cadaver, and synthetic models would have been used to practise with, which can be costly and difficult to manage.
The Stratasys J750 Digital Anatomy 3D Printer produces incredibly realistic representations that can be used as both visual and functional models. Using base materials that have been exclusively produced for this printer, users can create models that look and feel like human tissue.
Wayne says: “There are a lot of benefits we will see from the 3D printer, so we are extremely excited to have the first unit in the UK and to be able to share this capability to our partners. Now, we can print with certified biocompatible materials when we are making a wearable device enclosure. This means we can be confident that the patient will be able to use it for up to 30 days without getting rashes or irritation.
Customers wanting to find out more about the range of products available from Laser Lines should email 3dworld@laserlines.co.uk or call 01295 672599.