3D Systems
Press conference at the University Hospital Salzburg with Patient Rainer Trummer, Univ. Prof. DDr. Alexander Gaggl, DDr. Simon Enzinger, Priv.-Doz. Dr. Paul Sungler
3D Systems has announced that the University Hospital of Salzburg in Austria has successfully applied the company’s additive manufacturing technologies to design and produce its first 3D printed PEEK cranial implant as a custom device for an individual patient need.
The technologies were used by the hospital’s in-house clinicians to provide a customised solution for the patient. They used Oqton’s D2P software to create 3D models from the patient’s CT images and Oqton’s Geomagic Freefrom to complete the design of the patient-specific occipital prosthesis.
The cranial implant was printed using VESTAKEEP i4 3DF PEEK by Evonik on 3D Systems’ Kumovis R1 extrusion platform. 3D Systems says that PEEK is a desirable material for the production of medical devices due to it being lightweight, resistant to thermal and ionising radiation, and possesses mechanical properties similar to those of human bones.
In-house clinical engineers created a model of the occipital prosthesis having a diameter of 12cm and a thickness of up to 3cm on the computer using the patient’s CT images and the printed the implant on the 3D Systems Kumovis R1. The manufacturing process took around 10 hours.
The patient, 55-year-old Rainer Trummer, of Salzburg, suffers from craniosynostosis, which is where one of the cranial bones ossified too early during childhood, resulting in a deformation of the skull.
Trummer had an operation scheduled outside of Austria, but it was cancelled due to the COVID-19 pandemic. He then turned to Professor Alexander Gaggl, Head of the Department of Oral and Maxillofacial Surgery at the University Hospital of Salzburg, who he had known since a previous operation in 2012.
Dr. Jeffrey Graves, President and CEO of 3D Systems said: “We are thrilled for Mr. Trummer and the relief this procedure has given him, and deeply indebted to the talented surgeons and staff at Salzburg University Hospital who brought together for the first time our unique software, hardware, and materials technologies in a point-of-care hospital setting to address his specific needs.
“We believe that this success provides a real-life demonstration of the potential for enhancing orthopaedic outcomes through the use of comprehensive digital manufacturing technologies in a hospital setting. Our focus on point-of-care implementation of these integrated technologies is a key priority for our company, and one that we believe will bring significant benefits to patients around the world in the years ahead.”
The establishment of the 3D printing lab at the University Hospital of Salzburg is part of a digitisation strategy that the hospital says it has been pursuing since the beginning of the pandemic. Lecturer Paul Sungler, Managing Director of the hospital said: “We wanted to take with us the positive momentum that the pandemic triggered in this area. We stand for digitisation in the interest of patients, and 3D printing and its many clinical application possibilities are a central building block here.
