We no longer present Stratasys, the additive manufacturing giant. The American company is now a pillar of the 3D printing market and has been offering 3D solutions dedicated to the medical sector for many years. And like MakerBot and Formlabs, several manufacturers have also looked into the subject. These different machines are intended to support health practitioners as well as students in their professional daily life and their research. Recently, Visible Heart Labs at the University of Minnesota Medical School purchased the Stratasys J750™ Digital Anatomy™, along with the MakerBot METHOD X® and MakerBot SKETCH® 3D printers to allow students to learn more about the uses of 3D printing in the medical field, as well as anatomy and cardiac study.
Using 3D printing to create anatomical models for educational purposes, or even to prepare for surgery is not new. The technology makes it possible to design extremely precise and detailed models and is also able to reproduce colors as well as textures. Dr. Paul Iazzo, a professor at Visible Heart Laboratories at the University of Minnesota Medical School, says: “Blended learning using high-resolution 3D printing is having a huge impact on our ability to better train fellows, medical students, biomedical engineers and many more.”
A 3D printed heart is examined. (Photo credits: Stratasys)
How was 3D printing incorporated into the University of Minnesota?
Beyond applications for education and surgery, 3D printing can also participate in the creation of coronary medical devices. Indeed, 3D printed models reproduce the exact anatomy of a patient but also the pathologies. That’s why, to complete the University of Minnesota’s Atlas of Human Cardiac Anatomy, scientists opted for 3D printing. This collection, which contains 800 hearts that can be printed in 3D, was designed for educational purposes but also for research.
Rich Garrity, president of the US branch of Stratasys, concludes: “We believe that the widespread use of 3D-printed anatomical models would improve patient care, make it more cost-effective, and reduce time-to-market for medical device innovations. This sponsorship allows us to support world-class medical device education and research right here in Minnesota. »
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