ZMorph explains its 3D printing for medical applications
ZMorph explains the technology behind its 3D printing technology and the benefits it offers for medical device applications
ZMorph is a multifunctional device with interchangeable toolheads that 3D prints and laser and CNC-cuts. Thanks to specially written software – Voxelizer – it enables the preparation of prints directly from MRI and CT medical scans. According to Zmorph, this functionality together with Zmorph devices, offers something special. A dual head extruder makes it possible to print complex geometry in multimaterial configuration. Files that are created from the scans, can be transferred to Voxelizer software and turned into instructions for the printer. This functionality can be very useful for surgeons who can then create medical prototypes such as models of bones and teeth or silicone moulds used for example in plastic surgery.
Changing lives
The medical device sector is a fast growing area for 3D printing with the technology is helping to improve the health of many individuals. Recently we read about the man who saved his wife’s sight by manufacturing her tumour when his wife was misdiagnosed, Michael Balzer used this technology to save her from a complicated surgery. Those stories can show that 3D printing is not a technology from sci-fi movies anymore – it’s something changing our lives each day. Thanks to DICOM files, a virtual 3D picture of patient body or its part, it’s easy to diagnose broken bones or other kind of illness, find a solution and finally send it all over the world to print, without a lot of expenses. For example a team of Dutch surgeons from Utrecht, replaced the entire top portion of a 22 year–old woman’s skull with a customised printed implant made from plastic.
Doctors and patients are using this technology in many ways. For example, the problem of traditional prosthetics was that the production process was long and expensive. 3D printing offers the opportunity of making simple replacement available for less. It is a great way to bring this kind of healthcare to areas of the world where it was impossible to buy traditional, expensive prosthetics before because of costs or lack of materials. The other way 3D printing can support medical device manufacture in poorer areas of the world is to 3D print cheap and simple medicine tools – for example to local hospitals in Haiti after the earthquakes.
Opportunities in medtech
There are three main advantages of this technology in medical device manufacture – speed, cost and mobility. Hospitals now have the ability to 3D print samples of certain body parts within hours from the time of examination of a patient. This allows them to quickly have an exact replica of a part before surgery. They can carry out a group analysis of the body prior to surgery which can result in lowering the surgical risks. This speed and accuracy mix can be crucial in life-or-death surgeries.
While the present applications of 3D printing are exciting, the future offers incredible potential as global research is examining possibilities and printing with new materials. Researchers from Harvard University are trying to bioprint fully functional blood vessels. In the future, thanks to 3D printing, we will be able to print chemical compounds at the molecular level. Organovo recently announced the commercial launch of its bioprinted liver assays which are able to function for more than 40 days. There is also a hope for burn victims – the Wake Forest School of Medicine in the US is working on a printer that can print skin straight onto the wounds. Cornell’s Lawrence Bonassar used 3D photos of human ears to fabricate ear moulds filled with cells suspended in collagen.