Materialise Aims to Expand Hospital 3D Printing

Materialise has launched a new 3D printing platform, including software and services, that the company claims will help increase and ease adoption of the technology in hospital settings.

The Materialise Mimics Care Suite includes planning and design software tools, 3D printed anatomical models and surgical guides, and patient-specific implants. It also includes the new Materialise Mimics inPrint software for creating and printing accurate medical models without the need for advanced clinical engineering support.

The inPrint tool connects data from imaging systems to a range of 3D printers so that physicians can create prints within the hospital. According to the company’s website:

“Materialise Mimics inPrint comes with a powerful interface that allows you to locate patient images on the hospital PACS and directly import them into Materialise Mimics inPrint to start the 3D Printing process. DICOM compatibility ensures easy connections with all modern imaging systems.”

inPrint also features semi-automated segmentation tools, editing tools, error detection, and the ability to add treatment objectives within the models.

“For more than 25 years, we at Materialise have been identifying meaningful applications of 3D printing and developing the backbone of software and solutions needed to successfully bring them to market,” said Wilfried Vancraen, Materialise founder and CEO. “We see incredible potential for 3D printing in hospitals, but have also recognized that many existing solutions have slowed adoption of the technology. Therefore, we have developed the Materialise Mimics Care Suite with the aim of helping hospitals better integrate 3D printing and begin unleashing the benefits it offers, which include potential cost savings and patient care improvement.”

The solutions will help providers create detailed pre-operative plans using digital X-ray images, and treat complex cases with printed anatomical models, guides, and implants.

The company says the solution can also help hospitals integrate virtual planning and 3D printing into surgical workflows.

The company unveiled the new solutions at the American Association of Orthopaedic Surgeon’s Annual Meeting in Orlando at the beginning of March.

Source: Materialise