This is our second episode recorded at the Materialise headquater during its 2026 “3D Planning and Printing in Hospitals Forum”.  Brigitte de Vet-Veithen, CEO of Materialise, joins The Lattice Podcast for a candid conversation recorded live at Materialise’s Point of Care Forum in Belgium. With a career spanning Johnson & Johnson, multiple medtech turnarounds, and nearly a decade building Materialise’s medical segment, Brigitte brings a rare combination of clinical, commercial, and operational perspective to one of the most consequential questions in healthcare: what does it actually take to scale 3D printing from a niche capability into standard of care? The conversation covers the metrics that matter — from patient volume to structural reimbursement — and why health economics, not just clinical outcomes, now drives how Materialise selects new indications and applications. The episode goes deep on the practical barriers to adoption: physician workflow change, preoperative planning, and the unique challenge of running clinical trials for patient-specific devices where no two cases are alike. Brigitte also shares how Materialise evaluates acquisitions and partnerships globally, what the company’s recent moves into simulation technology signal about its long-term strategy, and why structural reimbursement — already achieved for patient-specific hip implants in Belgium — is the single metric she believes will define the next chapter of medical additive manufacturing.

⚠️ Disclaimer:
This podcast is for educational and informational purposes only. The views expressed do not constitute engineering, medical, or financial advice. The technologies and procedures discussed may not be commercially available or suitable for every case. Always consult with a qualified professional.

Guest Biography:

Brigitte de Vet is CEO at Materialise, a global leader in 3D printing software and services, since January
1st, 2024. She is also President of the Materialise Executive Committee. She succeeded Fried Vancraen,
who co-founded Materialise in 1990 and served as the company’s CEO for 33 years. Previously, Brigitte de Vet served as Executive Vice President of Materialise Medical, which develops software and 3D printing solutions that help improve patient outcomes. Under her leadership, the medical segment grew to become the company’s fastest-growing and most profitable business segment. She joined Materialise in 2016. Brigitte de Vet is an accomplished business leader with over 20 years of experience across multiple industries. Before joining Materialise Brigitte held various management, sales, R&D and marketing positions at Johnson & Johnson, ultimately serving as General Manager for Cordis in Germany and VP EMEA for Cordis Neurovascular. She led several companies through growth and transformation, including in her role as CEO of Acertys Group, where she drove a significant effort to improve operational efficiencies, strengthen the technology portfolio, and create growth. Brigitte holds an MBA from INSEAD and a BA with a major in Engineering from HEC Liege.

Episode Timestamps

00:00 Introduction
01:18 Setting the scene: Materialise Point of Care Forum, Belgium
01:53 Brigitte’s career journey: manufacturing, Johnson & Johnson, medtech turnarounds
03:38 Stepping into the CEO role at Materialise
04:37 Measuring adoption: the metrics that actually matter
05:13 Structural reimbursement as the clearest signal of adoption
07:22 How Materialise selects new indications: health economics first
09:21 The physician mindset shift: preoperative planning and workflow change
11:57 Two major company shifts: from implants to planning, from 3D printing to medical solutions
14:01 The future: predictive, personalized medicine using wearable data
15:29 Surgical robots vs. surgical guides: why they coexist
18:17 AI, SaaS, and the software layer in additive manufacturing
22:00 New frontiers: soft tissue, respiratory, and cardiovascular applications
27:31 Global markets: adoption gaps between US, Europe, Africa, and Latin America
29:35 Pediatric cardiology and the congenital heart opportunity
30:38 Materialise as a medical company: the JP Morgan moment
32:29 Three pillars of investment: education, evidence, and R&D
34:23 M&A strategy and the Pheops cardiac simulation acquisition
36:18 Life outside work: family, running, golf, and cold water swimming
39:08 Advice for the next generation: dare to be bold, stay close to the customer
40:19 What excites her most in 10 years: structural reimbursement at scale

Relevant Links

TCT Additive Insight Podcast #223 — Additive Manufacturing Is Still a Revolution (Apr 2025): https://www.tctmagazine.com/3d-printing-resource-center/podcast/223-materialise-ceo-brigitte-de-vet-veithen-additive-manufacturing-revolution

SME Advanced Manufacturing — Additive’s Next Chapter: From Hype to Impact (Jul 2025): https://www.advancedmanufacturing.org/leadership-innovation/executive-perspectives/additive-s-next-chapter-from-hype-to-impact/article_9ae910b9-9bd9-4fb1-a460-f44864d995c1.html

3D Printing Industry Interview — The Future of 3D Printing at Materialise (Apr 2025): https://3dprintingindustry.com/news/interview-brigitte-de-vet-veithen-on-the-future-of-3d-printing-at-materialise-239160/

VoxelMatters — Materialise CEO 2026 Outlook (Dec 2025): https://www.voxelmatters.com/learn-about-the-materialise-2026-outlook-from-ceo-brigitte-de-vet/

Materialise 2026 3D Printing Trends Video: https://www.materialise.com/en/inspiration/videos/3d-printing-trends-2026

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The post Episode 114: Interview With Brigitte de Vet-Veithen, CEO of Materialise appeared first on 3DHeals.

Last Thursday’s event focusing on 3D-printed orthopedic implants was eye-opening. By design, the event intends to provide education and organic discussion by international influencers with 3D printing, biomaterials, and regulatory and clinical expertise. The outcome of such talks based on the 3DHEALS virtual event format is often unpredictable, insightful, and inspirational at the same time. This event was no exception. Here are my quick after-thoughts on what I have learned and a few video clips. However, please don’t take my word for it. If you are a serious 3D-printed medical device maker or entrepreneur, you should bookmark this event and use it as a future reference. 

Speed is the Game.

Dr. Bryan Scheer, orthopedic surgeon, serial entrepreneur, CEO, and co-founder of SiNAPTIC Technologies, said the quicker the patient can get treatment/repair and heal, the better the clinical outcomes. That means the speed at which the device is ready for implantation, even if not custom-made. This also means the post-processing and design of 3D-printed devices must take “speed” into consideration.  The value of a patient-specific implant is still up in the air because the clinical outcomes for some of the PSI are not clearly superior yet. That said, for complex and especially revisional orthopedic cases, Dr. Harry Hothi demonstrated a clear example that 3D-printed personalized devices have a clear advantage. 

Why 3D printing?

Jennifer Palinchik, President and Co-Founder of JALEX Medical, LLC, who regularly consults for 3D-printed titanium implant device companies, clarifies why some device makers should consider 3D printing in one simple slide.  With these advantages of new technology, however, there are trade-offs, including a new regulatory pathway that can be complex and expensive to navigate. That said however, Jennifer mapped out steps to take a new 3d printed implant from idea to implementation.

Will bioceramics eat the world? 

Our event sponsor, Himed, who established the new Bioceramics Center of Excellence for 3D-printed ceramic implants, believes so.

Bryan Scheer’s new startup (SiNAPTIC) also focuses on a form of bioceramics: silicon nitrite. While most current orthopedic implants are made of metal/titanium, bioceramic implants have many advantages. These include high cell adhesion, enhanced osteoconductivity, superior bacterial resistance, reduced bacterial adhesion, and radio-opaque for imaging follow-ups. If you want to learn more about silicone nitride, here is a reference you can read more about.  SiNAPTIC Technology is currently working on foot and ankle implants made with silicon nitrite. 

Does 3D-printed porosity (and defects) matter? 

The answer is nuanced. 

Dr. Hothi, who has published extensively in the space with his collaborators at Royal National Orthopaedic Hospital (RNOH) NHS Trust, shared some of the results from his work on 3D-printed hip implants. While there is no conclusion on which type of lattice design will produce better osteointegration, many speakers chimed in that both 3D printing and lattice design serve many other benefits beyond just osteointegration. I am personally motivated to read all of Dr. Hothi’s publications in the near future. 

The rise of “metamaterial”? 

In the forward-looking part of the discussion, speakers discussed future “smart” biomaterials, implant design with cellular components or functionalities, and sensor-embedded implants. While Jennifer Palinchik knew the regulatory pathway would be particularly challenging, this idea energized the panel and is likely to be a focus of future innovations in the implant space. 

Related Links:

3D Bioprinting Biofabrication for Musculoskeletal Tissues (On Demand, 2024)

Best Practices in Central Europe: 3D Printed Maxillofacial Implants (On Demand, 2023)
Event Recap: 3D Bioprinting Biofabricating Skin Components
Event Recap: Point of Care 3D Printing
Event Recap: 3D Printing and AI in Orthopedics
Event Recap: Innovation in Melt-Electrowriting (MEW) & 3D Printing

Event Recap: In Silico Simulation for Medtech and Biopharma

The post Quick Take: 3D Printed Orthopedic Implants appeared first on 3DHeals.

In this week’s issue of “From Academia”, we share with you three latest publications focusing on 3D printing ceramic implants from different angles. The first publication focuses on 3D printing ceramic bone implants using laser stereolithography. The second article describes a customized, purely synthetic, 3D-printed bioceramic implant to regenerate and restore large cranial defects with mature, well-vascularized bone, with a morphology, ultrastructure, and composition similar to those of native skull bone. The final article evaluates the accuracy and precision of in-office 3D printed dental implant surgical guides comparing three different commercially available systems.

“From Academia” features recent, relevant, close to commercialization academic publications. Subjects include but not limited to healthcare 3D printing, 3D bioprinting, and related emerging technologies.

Email: Rance Tino (info@3dheals.com) if you want to share relevant academic publications with us.

Design and Fabrication of Complex-Shaped Ceramic Bone Implants via 3D Printing Based on Laser Stereolithography

Authored by Alexander Safonov, Evgenii Maltsev, Svyatoslav Chugunov, Andrey Tikhonov, Stepan Konev, Stanislav Evlashin, Dmitry Popov, Alexander Pasko and Iskander Akhatov. MDPI Applied Sciences. 29 September 2020

In situ bone regeneration of large cranial defects using synthetic ceramic implants with a tailored composition and design

Authored by Omar Omar, Thomas Engstrand, Lars Kihlström Burenstam Linder,  Jonas Åberg, Furqan A. Shah, Anders Palmquist,  Ulrik Birgersson, Ibrahim Elgali, Michael Pujari-Palmer, Håkan Engqvist, and Peter Thomsen. PNAS. 12 October 2020 

Accuracy and precision of 3D-printed implant surgical guides with different implant systems: An in vitro study

Authored by Matthew Yeung, Aous Abdulmajeed, Caroline K.Carrico, George R. Deeb, Sompop Bencharit. The Journal of Prosthetic Dentistry. 23 October 2019

Related Articles:

3D Bioprinting Knee, Aneurysm Model, 3D Organization Using Microfluidics

3D Printing Pharmaceuticals and Drug Delivery Devices

3D Bioprinting The Heart & Cardiovascular System

Machine Learning in 3D Printing and Bioprinting, a Collection of Recent Publications

3D Printing for Neurosurgery Training, Vat Photopolymerization, soft robotic microsystem

Open-Source 3D printed Medical Devices and New Sensor for COVID

Other similar articles

The post 3D Printing of Bone implants appeared first on 3DHeals.

July 25th, 2019 (San Francisco)

This is our second online pitch session including four 3D printing, bioprinting, and adjacent technologies, such as digital dentistry using 3D scanning, regenerative medicine, and tissue engineering. Startups typically pitch directly to institutional VCs and selected angel investors knowledgeable to the field. We plan to host this kind of online pitch on an approximately quarterly basis to keep the quality of selected startups high. Interested startups can apply here:

Nanochon: http://www.nanochon.com/
Using 3-D printing and novel material, the Nanochon implant is a sturdy medical advancement that is both an orthopedic load-bearing implant as well a tissue growth scaffold. 

I-Dentical: https://www.identicalimplant.com/
Our drill-free, non-invasive dental implants can be placed by any family dentist, making tooth replacement more accessible and affordable for EVERYONE.

Revital Therapeutics:  https://www.revitaltx.com/home
Revital Therapeutics is a tissue engineering company bringing innovative approaches to the regenerative medicine field and groundbreaking products to the clinic.

Volumetric: https://volumetricbio.com/
Volumetric, Inc. was founded in 2018 by Jordan Miller and Bagrat Grigoryan. Our mission is to empower the next generation of advanced biofabrication with high-quality materials and systems for 3D bioprinting.

Related Articles:

Pitch3D May 2019: Deep Health; Kumovis; PrinterPrezz; Fluidform

3DHeals Brazil: Healthcare 3D Printing Next Generation!

Pitch3D! Startup Summaries and Contacts

Pitch3D! Boston, June 18th, 2018- See Who Is Pitching

The post Pitch3D July 2019 Nanochon, Revital Therapeutics, Volumetric, iDentical appeared first on 3DHeals.

“São Paulo has the best public health system in the country , but even with that São Paulo’ population is still suffering on the hospital queues and dying because our system is too slow to meet the need of a 22 million population. Innovation can lead to a much better use of resources and ease this suffering.”

 
 
Community: São Paulo /  Brazil

3DHEALS members can get in touch with Fabio Sanches Sant´Ana here.

Jenny: Fabio, please tell us one quote that represents you.
Fabio: (“If you can look, see. If you can see, notice.”) – José Saramago, Nobel Laureate, Literature. ( This means more in Portuguese [laughing] )
Jenny: Tell us a little about yourself. (Where are you from originally? Where are you located? What are you working on?)
Fabio: Born and Raise in São Paulo , Campo Belo Neighborhood , I started my career right after my precision mechanics degree in the CAD/CAM field  working for Mastercam dealer for Brazil, after some time was hired by the company who democratized the CNC machining in Brazil by bringing high tech machines under good cost/benefit relation from Taiwan to the local market. My company started dealing for Swiss and  CNC machine companies specialized in medical devices manufacturing, and since 2013, we are specialized in Additive Manufacturing Technology for Aerospace and Medical Industries.
Jenny: What made you decide to become a 3DHEALS community manager?
Fabio: Brazil needs to advance the use of additive manufacturing in healthcare. The country sustained a large economical loss in recent years, and this caused a big gap in the actual technological status of AM in Brazil.
Jenny: If you have already organized a 3DHEALS event, what were your experiences like? (Photos?) Anything unexpected happened?
Fabio: I just started , we just put Jenny in contact with the Inside3dprinting São Paulo event .
Jenny: What do you think of innovations in healthcare 3D printing or bioprinting? What do you hope to see in the next five years? 10 years?
Fabio: This is advancing fast, the use of biomodels is growing and saving lives and resources, the implant making is amazing and soon we are going to have additively made tissue to be used in human body.  
Jenny: If you have done 3D printing before, what have you made/designed? 
Fabio: I help customers to develop implants like hip joints and spinal cages. I normally do some models in my desktop machine or my suppliers make samples for them

Jenny: Most of our community managers are entrepreneurial and adventurous, what risks/adventures have you taken that you’d like to share with us? Any hopes or regrets?
Fabio: I’ve owned my business since 1998, and there were hard times. At that time I used to carry a 29-inch tube monitor in my small car to be able to do CAD/CAM and CNC presentations. The projectors were very expensive and not popular at that time, and that cost me a lot of back pain!! To be able to manage your company size and resources in a country not economically stable like Brazil is the main challenge I had to face.  
Jenny: Who would you like to find and to include in the 3DHEALS community you are building?
Fabio: To be able to connect medical to engineering community is what I want the most.  
Jenny: What would you like to accomplish with this new 3DHEALS community in the future?
Fabio: Enable additive manufacturing to make people’s lives better
Jenny: What do you think about the innovation environment (for health tech or for general technology) in your city? What can be done to improve it?
Fabio: It’s improving. Many new techniques are appearing through doctors and engineers separately, and I would like to see them connect!
Jenny: What are you most proud of about your city?
Fabio: São Paulo is the locomotive of the country!
Jenny: What are you most proud of about the innovation community in your city?
Fabio: São Paulo is the natural base for startups in all industries.
Jenny: What do you think are the top priorities in healthcare innovations for your city/community?  
Fabio: São Paulo has the best public health system in the country, but even with that, São Paulo’s population is still suffering on the hospital queues and dying because our system is too slow to meet the need of a 22 million population. Innovation can lead to a much better use of resources and remove the suffering a bit .
Jenny: What do you hope to accomplish through your role as the 3DHEALS community manager?
Fabio: I hope to help, and this is my effort
Jenny: What do you do for fun?
Fabio: Fishing and hang out with friends for some beers and some Churrasco! Also after a successful bariatric surgery, I became a walker, I walk 5 km a day.
Jenny: Anything else?  
Fabio: I am glad I joined the tribe!
 

The post Interview: Fabio Sanches Sant´Ana, San Paulo, Brazil appeared first on 3DHeals.

Mr. Oscar Hedin works as a Senior Applications Engineer for Oerlikon AM and is responsible for questions regarding design, application & process development and regulatory approval of medical implants manufactured with 3D printing. Mr. Hedin spent the last 10 years based in US and Europe, working with American and European orthopedic implant manufacturers and has ample experience of how to use AM for volume production of medical implants. Mr. Hedin has a background in Engineering Physics where he holds an MSc. Mr. Hedin will be a speaker at the #3DHEALS2018 conference on April 20-21st, 2018.
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.
Oscar: ‘Two Italian companies have been a major source of inspiration for me. More than a decade ago, amidst a global financial crisis, the Italian orthopedic companies Adler Ortho and Lima took a leap of faith by venturing into 3D printing and making it a critical part of their supply chain. Ten years later, more than 60’000 hip cups 3D printed by these companies have been implanted – and the patients treated with the very first 3D printed implants are still going strong!’
Jenny: What motivates you the most for your work?
Oscar: ‘To witness the life-changing impact 3D printing can have on patients and their families – and to have the opportunity to be part of this journey – is what motivates me the most. I recently heard a story on the national public radio about how 3D technology had helped surgeons separate and save the lives of conjoined twins, an extremely rare and complicated procedure. Similar success stories are shared with increasing frequency and really a testament to how important it is to continue to evolve these technologies.’
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)?
Oscar: ‘I’d like to point out three key drivers for the adoption of 3D printing in Medical:

1. Digitized manufacturing
2. Building a reliable supplier base
3. Materials and applications designed for AM

–  For AM to become a widespread production technology, the process chain needs to become more digitized. This means more automation & integration and less manual intervention. Many of the process steps involved in AM – such as powder handling, post-processing of parts, etc. –  still rely on manual labor, leading to operator dependency, processes which are difficult to monitor and control, and potentially inconsistent part quality.
–  Logistical oversight for component manufacturing is difficult with the number of supply chain waypoints involved in 3D printing.  Companies like Oerlikon are paving the way to shorter and more reliable supply chains by offering integrated services, from prototyping to production.
–  Most of the materials and applications produced with 3D printing today have been designed for traditional manufacturing processes. The thought process of most engineers involved in new product development projects is still wrapped around the conventional way of manufacturing. To realize the full potential of 3D printing, we need to start designing applications and materials around AM and not the other way around. This will require shifting the focus from “How can I make 3D printing work for my existing products?” to “How can I leverage the true capabilities of 3D printing to deliver more customer value?”. The AM community plays an important role when it comes to training customers and disseminating critical know-how to the industry.’
Jenny: What is your favorite quote? Why?
Oscar: ‘I heard a speaker at a recent conference say something along the lines: “Additive (Manufacturing) laughs at complexity!” I think that captures the essence of AM and 3D printing in a very concise way.’
Jenny: Any advice for the healthcare 3D printing industry? 
Oscar: 

• Building up a reliable supplier base
• Complexity is free
• Train the customer
• Remeber it’s not plug-and-play
• Optimizing the process chain
• Need to digitalize manufacturing
• Speed up design loops
• Reduce inventory
• Localize suppliers closer to hospitals to reduce inventory, be part of pre-op planning

The post Interview: Oscar Hedin appeared first on 3DHeals.

(Image above: “This case was a patient that endured an accident that resulted in multiple fractures to the face. The original CT had all the bone fragments out of normal alignment. what we did was to separate the different fractures (different colors) and re-align them to their natural position. Afterwards, we proposed the osteosynthesis plates that can be seen in the picture and 3D printed a model with the fractures align that was used in the operating theatre as a template for the surgeon to guide the procedure and achieve the best aesthetic outcome.” )

“This product/service is specifically used for a pathology called craniosynostosis, where one or more cranium suture closes before time, this leads to deformities of the skull in newborns. What we do with this cases is to virtually plan the osteotomies and virtually place the bone fragments in an almost perfect position, that eliminates potential problems of a closed suture and improves the aesthetics of the patient. Of course this wouldn’t mean anything if we only did it virtually, so in order for the surgeon to replicate what we do in the computer, we 3D print a set of custom-made cutting guides that allows them to cut the bone exactly where we predicted and a set of custom-made positioning guides, that in turn help the surgeon shapes the bone fragments and place them in the positions predicted earlier. We have been receiving amazing feedback on this service, and we are of course very proud of what we managed to achieve.”
 
João Correia Leite from BRECA Health Care Design and Development Engineer, with a background in Biomechanics, currently Director of the Medical Engineer department at BRECA Health Care. Specialized in patient-specific solutions, virtual surgery planning, and additive manufacturing applied to the medical sector.
Q: How did you first encounter 3D printing? What was the story?
A: The first time I saw a 3D printer, I hadn’t quite realized what it was. It was in the first Jurassic Park movie, they called it back then a rapid prototyper. It came to me years later when I started studying Biomechanics in 2006, 13 years after that movie came out.
Q: What inspired you to use or work with 3D printing?
A: I always wanted to work in the medical field. While studying I was introduced to custom-made solutions, 3D printing was the logical next step in that equation.
                   
Q: What is the biggest motivation for your work?
A: You know you are helping people, no need to say anything more than that.
Q: What is the biggest challenge in your work?
A: Breaking the stigma associated with patient-specific solutions, regarding price and old techniques, it is hard to get rid of old habits.

“In this case, we also worked with patient-specific instrumentation. First, we started with the segmentation of the bone tumor (red), then we designed a set of custom-made cutting guide for the dissection of said tumor. For the reconstruction of the defect left behind we design another set of guides that were used in a donor, assuring that the surgeons could take a fragment that perfectly matched the patient.”

Q: How do you plan to conquer this challenge?
A: The benefits will eventually speak for themselves.
Q: What is your vision on the potential impact of your current work to the future of medicine?
A: I think we will see a standardization of the custom-made approach in medicine.
Q: What is the biggest change/improvement since last year this time?
A: The word is starting to spread, more and more medical professionals are open to introducing patient-specific solutions.
Q: What are you passionate about?
A: At BRECA we are passionate about innovation. Today we are making patient-specific devices, but we are already researching on how to improve them as well. We are already thinking about the next steps, devices enhanced with bio-degradable materials, bio-printing, and tissue engineering.

 
 
 
“This is probably the more common case of those that were exposed during the interview. This is a patient-specific jaw plate. We wanted to show that we could achieve a better product via 3D printing, a product that matched the patient and did not require any manipulation from the surgeon. We achieve this great titanium plate, the image doesn’t really make justice to the device, it almost looked like a piece of jewelry.”
Q: What is the biggest risk you took in your career?
A: Personally, four years ago I moved to a new country to start work at BRECA, a start-up was in the very early stage. Today, we are well recognized in the market for personalized medicine and tissue engineering. One could say, it paid off.
Q: What do you enjoy in your spare time?
A: A lot of things, if I had to choose one, probably racing.

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