Materialise Medical Blog.
X-ray and pre-op CT scan from Hospital for Special Surgery, New York.
Fried Vancraen, CEO of Materialise has called upon industry stakeholders to come to an agreement for a common standard for measuring the clinical, economical and patient benefits of medical 3D printing.
The adoption of 3D technologies in the medical sector is changing the face of healthcare all the way from surgical guides and models to patient-specific implants. However, unlike the mass-produced medical device industry, adoption of 3D printing needs more generally accepted measurement standards. The application of consistent and complete evidence-gathering methodologies across the industry could significantly foster the adoption of 3D Printing in the healthcare sector.
Materialise believes that a unified initiative addressing the clinical measurement challenge will further enhance the healthcare industry’s confidence in the clinical benefits of medical 3D Printing. A set of globally accepted guidelines adopted by the major medical 3D printing industry players will convince key stakeholders like physicians, hospitals and policy makers to accelerate adoption of the technology. This would result in governmental bodies and insurance companies being more open to including medical 3D printing as part of their approved list of medical procedures and devices, giving patients access the best solutions that technology has to offer for their care.
The Belgian 3D printing company will be leading this on-going initiative as the founding sponsor of the Building Evidence for 3D Printing Applications in Medicine event hosted by SME.
“There have been several initiatives aimed at properly measuring and validating the clinical benefits of medical 3D Printing, but all have suffered from a lack of coordination and agreed-upon research methodologies,” Fried Vancraen, CEO of Materialise explained. “The fact is, we can only be successful if we take an evidence-based approach across the industry, acting in concert with a set of protocols, methodologies and measurement guidelines. With the proper scientific rigor, our ambition of gaining widespread acceptance of medical 3D Printing will be realized more swiftly, and the patients whom we aim to serve will benefit the most.”
Materialise is committing to take a leadership role in what has to be an industry-wide initiative to begin studying and designing a new evidence-based approach that will factor in all key perspectives: economical, clinical, engineering and patient.
Fried added: “The goal is nothing short of establishing the groundwork for producing solid clinical evidence on 3D printed medical applications, including anatomical models, patient-specific guides and implants. Anything short of this will slow down the wonders of medical 3D Printing from becoming available to patients and medical professionals the world over.”
The Building Evidence for 3D Printing Applications in Medicine event will take place on May 19-20 in Orlando, Florida following the annual RAPID Expo and Conference.
