Apollo Hospitals to establish 3D-printing labs for printing of implants

The Apollo Hospitals Group has joined hands with Anatomiz3D Medtech Pvt Ltd for the design and printing of complex implants for domestic and international markets. To start with, the 3D-printing labs will be set up in various Apollo Hospitals for 3D printed implants that would enable doctors to visualise and print implants for complicated cases.

Dr Prathap C Reddy, chairman, Apollo Hospitals Group said, “It would not be wrong to say that with the hospital 3D-printing labs, the future of healthcare is here! Personalisation of healthcare is the new mantra and advances in genomics and precision medicine are driving personalised prevention and treatment."

"From specialised medicines for targeted therapies to customised implants and prosthetics, 3D-printing technology is transforming the medical environment by providing a fast, accurate and economical solution to take medical care to the next level! As healthcare evolves, 3D-printing will play an important part of this future transformation," he said.

The hospital 3D-printing labs would provide medical 3D printing services for better healthcare, through the creation of anatomical models for pre-surgical planning and education, patient-specific cutting and drilling guides, and customised implants and implant moulds.

Sangita Reddy, joint managing director, Apollo Hospitals Group added that 3D-printing is today used in a wide range of healthcare settings and is helping save and improve lives in ways never imagined until now. 3D-printing has many applications in healthcare and the in-house 3D-printing labs at the hospitals will enable better patient care and treatment planning, she said.

"Advances in 3D printing technology today produce customised, lighter, stronger, safer and higher performing products with reduced lead times and lower costs," she added.

This gives doctors a better understanding of their patients and improves patient comfort level with products that are designed especially for their anatomy. Patient-specific design of implantable devices and surgical tools will help optimise surgical processes and costs. In areas such as spinal surgery, customised 3D-printing will add value to personalised medicine, enhancing pre-operative planning, leading to shorter operation times and helping to reduce risk for the patient. 3D-printing will also help improve the skills of the new generation of surgeons with a better understanding of the disease involved.

Firoza Kothari, co-founder and CTO, Anatomiz3D, said, a multi-disciplinary team consisting of biomedical engineers, mechanical engineers, AM engineers, 3D designers will work with Apollo Hospitals' medical and surgical talent in the 3D-printing labs.

The lab will provide anatomical models that are life-size replicas of a patient’s anatomy, accurately reconstructed from their CT/MRI scans into 3D models, which can be created in multiple materials, colours, opacities and hardness to provide advanced 3D visualization for pre-surgical planning and patient communication; Implants and Molds that are custom designed to perfectly match the defect region in a patient, ensuring the ideal aesthetic and functional fit. 3D printed in biocompatible material; and, Surgical guides and tools that fit on a predetermined area of a patient’s bone and guides a surgical saw or drill in a pre-planned direction, ensuring a precise surgical outcome.