November 2018

Interview: Justin Cramer, Assistant Professor of Neuroradiology at the University of Nebraska Medical Center

November 16, 2018 | 0 Comments

Justin Cramer's Interview

Justin Cramer, M.D. Assistant Professor of Neuroradiology at the University of Nebraska Medical Center. Dr. Cramer has a series of free Youtube videos on DICOM to 3D Printing conversion and are worth watching. Dr. Cramer will also be a speaker for our upcoming 3DHEALS OMAHA: AdvancedTek, Healthcare 3D Printing event.

Jenny: When was the first encounter you had with 3D printing? What was that experience like? What were you thinking at that moment?

Justin: My first encounter with 3D printing was at a science fair in Salt Lake City. It was a similar feeling to burning my first CD – amazement that I could take something “virtual” and make it real.

Jenny: What inspired you to start your journey/company/career/research in 3D printing (bio-fabrication/bio-printing)?

Justin: My mentors Dr. Shah and Quigley at Utah suggested a grant proposal for using 3D printing for education on spine procedures.

Jenny: Who inspired you the most along this journey in 3D printing (bio-printing/bio-fabrication)? This can be a mentor, a patient, a celebrity, anyone basically. You can name more than one as well.

Justin: The enthusiasm for and success with 3D printing expressed at conferences is always inspiring. The group from Mayo, in particular, has a great track record and is always motivating and helpful.

Jenny: What motivates you the most for your work?

Justin: When a clinician is excited about a 3D print and finds it helpful, that’s very motivating for me.

Jenny: What is/are the biggest obstacle(s) in your line of work? If you have conquered them, what were your solutions?

Justin: Physicians are always lacking in time, and 3D printing is very time-consuming.

Jenny: What do you think is (are) the biggest challenge(s) in 3D Printing/bio-printing? What do you think the potential solution(s) is (are)?

Justin: In healthcare, the biggest challenge to 3D printing is payment. If there was a CPT code for 3D printing there would be zero obstacles.

Jenny: What advice would you give to a smart driven college student in the “real world”? What bad advices you heard should they ignore?

Justin: Whatever you do, do it well. If you don’t have a passion, don’t worry – pick something you kind of like then get really good at that.

Interview: Gabe Linke, 3D Printing Coordinator, Omaha Children’s Hospital 🗓

November 14, 2018 | 0 Comments

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Gabe Linke has been in the imaging profession for over 10 years as a technologist in MRI. He received his Bachelors in Radiation Sciences from the University of Nebraska Medical Center. 2 years ago he became the Cardiac Imaging & 3D Printing Coordinator for Children’s Hospital and Medical Center in Omaha Nebraska. His original duties involved overseeing Cardiac CT and MRI and starting their 3D printing program. This program started with 3D printing cardiac models for presurgical planning. It has since grown outside of cardiology and is hospital-wide serving multiple subspecialties with presurgical planning, educational modeling, and numerous research applications. Gabe will also be a speaker for our upcoming 3DHEALS OMAHA: AdvancedTek, Healthcare 3D Printing event.

Jenny: When was the first encounter you had with 3D printing? What was that experience like? What were you thinking at that moment?

Gabe: I experienced 3D printing for the first time when I accepted my position at Omaha Children’s Hospital. I was in my second interview for a cardiac imaging coordinator position and Dr. Scott Fletcher handed me a printed heart from a case they had done. It blew me away to hold the replica of the child’s heart in my hand and I immediately could see the potential this technology would have to impact healthcare.

Jenny: What inspired you to start your journey in 3D printing (bio-fabrication/bio-printing)?

Gabe: After accepting the job at Omaha Children’s I was shown the printer that we had received as a gift to start our own in-house 3D printing program. The program started in Cardiology, but as I saw the way these 3D Models impacted the way our Cardio-thoracic surgeons I knew we had to do more. Seeing the impact in the first few cases inspired me to go to my directors and expand the program to a hospital-wide 3D printing service.

Gabe: I think I would have to say Dr. Scott Fletcher after my answer earlier right? Scott gave me the gift of this job and I will forever be grateful to him. He has taught me so much about congenital cardiology and has supported me every step of the way as this program continues to grow.

Dr. Jorge Zuniga has taught me so much about the technology of 3D printing and the global impact we can have using this technology together. I very early on adopted his vision for open collaboration is paramount in a successful program. I am honored to call him a personal friend and colleague.

Jenny: What motivates you the most for your work?

Gabe: Our patients, period. I joined the medical profession for one reason and that was to help people. Seeing a child set down an iPad to better understand why he’s having an operation, hearing a surgeon speak on how they did a better procedure or operation due to a 3D model, or hearing how much better a nurse can do her job because she was handed a 3D model of a patient’s heart. All of these are helping a patient through one means or another to have better care.

Jenny: What is/are the biggest obstacle(s) in your line of work? If you have conquered them, what were your solutions?

Gabe: One of the biggest obstacles, was growing our program outside of Cardiology. My solution was easy: Dr. Lincoln Wong. Dr. Wong, one of our radiologists, adopted this technology and showed it to everyone. He would be reading a case and see where the application could help a surgeon and would have a model made. He would take these models to the surgeons and that was it. Our hospital now prints for multiple subspecialties and we continue to grow. Dr. Wong’s passion for 3D printing has been paramount in the expansion of our program.

Jenny: What do you think is (are) the biggest challenge(s) in 3D Printing/bio-printing? What do you think the potential solution(s) is (are)?

Gabe: I have to admit that I have to answer this from a perspective that I do not personally know. Omaha Children’s has been very supportive of its 3D Printing Program, but in general, I think that funding for these programs is the biggest challenge. This will take care of itself in time, as I believe that reimbursement is inevitable based on the positive impacts 3D models are having on patient care.

Jenny: If you are granted three wishes by a higher being, what would they be?

Gabe:

A life full of love: it is the single most powerful thing in the universe and can overcome anything put in its way.
The cure for mental illness/addiction.
The Flashes Speed ( had to lighten the mood a little)

Jenny: What advice would you give to a smart driven college student in the “real world”? What bad advice you heard should they ignore?

Gabe: Find something that you’re passionate about and you enjoy doing and figure out how to turn it into your job.

Bad advice: Do a job just for the money.

Interview: Stefan Leonhardt, Managing Partner of Kumovis

November 6, 2018 | 0 Comments

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Stefan Leonhardt studied medical engineering at the Technical University of Munich. His research during his studies was focused on the influence of materials and manufacturing processes on the biocompatibility of polymer parts. In 2015 he started his Ph.D. programme at the Institute of medical and polymer engineering at the Technical University of Munich, about the development of a biocompatible photopolymer for the production of individualized bioreactors used in tissue engineering processes. Since October 2017 he is a managing partner of the Kumovis GmbH, a startup that develops innovative 3D-printing systems for the production of individualized implants out of PEEK. Stefan will also be a speaker for our upcoming Munich event.

Jenny: When was the first encounter you had with 3D printing? What was that experience like? What were you thinking at that moment?

Stefan: My first contact with 3d printing was at the Institute of medical and polymer engineering at the technical university of Munich. That time, I was applying for an Ph.D. project at the institute and was excited about the huge potential that 3d printing could bring into healthcare. Especially the new designs for medical products that could be realized.

Jenny: What inspired you to start your journey in 3D printing (bio-fabrication/bio-printing)?

Stefan: I was fascinated about the possibility to create “things” that you had in your mind without production-related restrictions. There were so many fields that could be revolutionized through additive manufacturing, especially the production of medical products. As a student, my research was always focused on the compatibility of plastics with biological systems, so I wanted to translate this knowledge into 3d-printing.

Stefan: To be honest there was no one special who inspired me. Rather, it was the many use-cases I saw on the internet, conferences or speeches that impressed me what is possible with 3d printing. In recent days I am mostly inspired by people that focus on the basics that we need to bring 3d printing to a patient or in series production.

Jenny: What motivates you the most for your work?

Stefan: I am always motivated by real applications that can be used on a patient or in a product. To see the printed part under real conditions is what motivates me to go on with all the work.

Jenny: What is/are the biggest obstacle(s) in your line of work? If you have conquered them, what were your solutions?

Stefan: It was always difficult to find people that had real applications and not only did research. It was a little bit frustrating to see working a material or a process in the lab but could not bring it to a patient. One solution was to corporate a lot with material suppliers that already know a lot of customers that use specific plastics for medical applications.

Jenny: What do you think is (are) the biggest challenge(s) in 3D Printing/bio-printing? What do you think the potential solution(s) is (are)?

Stefan: The biggest challenge is to translate printed products from the lab to the patient. There are so many publications, paper or potential use-cases that stay in the lab. One major challenge is to achieve stable processes with high accuracy and reproducibility. Furthermore, we, have to overcome all the challenges that regulatory affairs imply.

The solution in my point of view lies in the focus on stable processes. That means we have to build robust 3d-printing machines that focus on the basics:

Good mechanics
High accuracy
High reproducibility
Clean processes

Jenny: If you are granted three wishes by a higher being, what would they be?

Stefan: See what the world looks like in 100, 500 and 1000 years. Does that count as one or three wishes? 😊

Jenny: What advice would you give to a smart driven college student in the “real world”? What bad advice you heard should they ignore?

Stefan: Be proactive with your ideas, do important things first and always have the end in mind. Ignore people who say “you can´t do this” or “that is not possible”.

Jenny: If you could have a giant billboard to promote a message to millions and even billions of people in our community (i.e. healthcare 3D printing and bio-fabrication), what message would that be?

Stefan: Focus on the basics and take one step after the other before building dreamworlds.

Jenny: What were/was the best/worst investment you made in 3D printing?

Stefan: At the beginning, we had an, in our mind, interesting idea for a particle free guide system that we wanted to integrate into our first printer for high-performance materials. In hindsight, it never could have worked but we spend several months and a lot of money to build a prototype just to see that it doesn´t work. 😊

Jenny: What was/is the biggest risk you took in your career?

Stefan: Starting an own business is always risky. But we have a great team, a great product and we know what we can achieve in 3d printing for healthcare applications, so I will never regret this decision.

Jenny: What do you enjoy in your spare time? What are you passionate about outside of your work/3d printing?

Stefan: I enjoy spending time with friends and do sports. But I also like days where I just can relax and read a good book or watch a nice movie.

Jenny: What is your favorite quote? Why?

Stefan: “It doesn´t make sense to hire smart people and tell them what to do; we hire smart people, so they can tell us what to do” from Steve Jobs.

It reminds me that you always can learn a lot from other people and also from other companies as long as you work together.

Jenny: What does the word “3DHEALS” mean to you? =)

Stefan: 3DHEALS is really a great platform. It builds on the ecosystem on healthcare 3d printing and brings together great people and great ideas. For me and our company, it is great to be part of 3DHEALS.

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Interview: Martin Herzmann, Materialise GmbH

Interview: Michael Wildemann, Project Manager Samaplast AG

Interview: Martin Herzmann, Materialise GmbH

November 5, 2018 | 0 Comments

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Martine Herzmann is an experienced MedTec professional who is responsible since 2015 as Sales Manager for the Medical Portfolio of Materialise in all German-speaking countries. The 3D printing portfolio of Materialise ranges from cardiovascular to orthopedic and CMF for hospitals as well as for MedTech companies and academic institutes. Before joining Materialise in 2015 Martin established the role of Director Global Marketing at Ziehm Imaging in Nuremberg (a German X-ray company for intraoperative imaging) and significantly influenced 8 years Ziehm Imaging´s marketing activities. Another 8 years ago – in 1999 – Martin started his MedTech career at Brainlab where he fulfilled different roles in Sales, Marketing and finally Business Development. Martin holds a degree in business administration which rounds up his in-depth understanding of planning software, intraoperative navigation, different imaging modalities and 3D printing.

Martin will be a speaker for our upcoming Munich event.

Jenny: When was the first encounter you had with 3D printing? What was that experience like? What were you thinking at that moment?

Martin: I experienced 3d printing in CMF in 2005 the first time and was impressed about the clinical relevance in those days to visualize anatomy and explain complex procedures.

Jenny: What inspired you to start your journey/company/career/research in 3D printing (bio-fabrication/bio-printing)?

Martin: Since 1999 I am working in MedTech industries and was able to spearhead intraoperative navigation, intraoperative 3d imaging. In 2015 Materialise and I and both agreed on the potential of the German-speaking medical market in 3D printing and 3D planning software and joined forces. Why Materialise? It is the joy of growth, of innovation and of the possibility to shape a market.

Martin: Zion certainly as a patient. Professor Gellrich in Hannover as a visionary surgeon. Brigitte de Vet as a strategic sparring partner in my organization.

Jenny: What motivates you the most for your work?

Martin: The joy of growth for the organization and successful treatments of patients

Jenny: What is/are the biggest obstacle(s) in your line of work? If you have conquered them, what were your solutions?

Martin: Setting priorities and gaining an overview of multiple opportunities.

Jenny: What do you think is (are) the biggest challenge(s) in 3D Printing/bio-printing? What do you think the potential solution(s) is (are)?

Martin: Challenge: Translation from science to patient care.

Jenny: If you are granted three wishes by a higher being, what would they be?

Martin: Health, luck, joy for rest of my life.

Jenny: What advice would you give to a smart driven college student in the “real world”? What bad advices you heard should they ignore?

Martin: If you face an inner conflict between your brain and your gut feeling, then trust your gut feeling.