Drew Meyer, MSPO, CPO, has eight years of experience in clinical orthotics and prosthetics and four years in medical device design, underpinned by a background in biomedical engineering. He holds degrees from the Colorado School of Mines and Baylor College of Medicine. Throughout his career in the O&P industry, Drew has held various roles, from staff practitioner, to clinic manager, and now developing and selling software solutions that enhance the designs and efficiency of orthotic and prosthetic care. Outside of his professional life, Drew is dedicated to his family. He has been married for 11 years and is actively involved in raising their four beautiful children. This balance of a demanding family life and a professional career in orthotics and prosthetics highlights his commitment to both personal and professional growth, and underscores his dedication to enhancing patient outcomes through innovative technology. Drew will be speaking at the upcoming virtual event, focusing on the same subject.

When was the first encounter you had with 3D printing?

Drew: In 2010 I started working for Medical Modeling which ended up being acquired by 3D systems
in 2014. I was a BioMedical Engineer responsible for Processing DICOM data sets to create
virtual anatomical models from CT scans. Some of these virtual models were further
manipulated for virtual surgical planning, and others were immediately printed using SLA. They
had an SLA350 that would take 28hrs to print a complete skull with two colors, and I’ll never forget my
first time watching a build platform rise up out of the tank to slowly reveal a complete skull, and
resin was oozing out of the eye sockets. I thought it was the most amazing thing ever to build
such a complex structure with a tiny laser beam.

What inspired you to start your journey?

Drew: Having a few years of professional experience at a company that was utilizing 3D printing as a
business model was very foundational for my future career in clinical Orthotics and Prosthetics.
When I went through grad school for O&P, I remember feeling distinctly let down to find out
the fabrication processes largely hadn’t changed since the ’60s, and didn’t involve 3DP. Since a
large percentage of work in O&P is highly custom, it made sense that 3D printing would
eventually have a place, but I didn’t see much of it around me, so I started exploring on my own.

Who inspired you the most along this journey ?

Drew: One of the earliest times I saw 3D printing in O&P was when I stumbled across the Cyborg Beast
from E-nable in 2013 on Google+, and I reached out to learn more and spoke with Jon Schull. It
was really inspiring to see him and many others taking a humanitarian engineering approach to
create functional prostheses for kids with partial hand amputations. They were using a hive-
design approach with people pitching in from all over the world to problem solve, design, print,
and assemble these devices.

What motivates you the most for your work?

Drew: Few things are more satisfying than when someone rolls into an appointment and then walks
out! Or when someone says “Hey, I can walk and it doesn’t hurt” or “I feel so much safer”. All
these types of feedback are the dopamine hit for orthotists and prosthetists.

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

Drew: Sadly, insurance documentation and reimbursements take a lot of the wind out of my sails! So
much unnecessary time and energy is spent justifying and defending our clinical decision-making
to the likes of UHC and BCBS. Also, obscure rules from insurance carriers prevent people from
getting the equipment they need to be successful, and it’s a crying shame to watch it happen or
be the bearer of bad news.

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)?

Drew: Overcoming the CAD hurdle, and making prints that are safe, functional, and considered
acceptable by the patient. It’s a classic engineering design triangle, you can usually only pick 2! If
it’s safe and functional, it’s likely too bulky for the patient. If the device is functional and used by
the patient, then I lose sleep wondering if/when it’s going to break. We have just scratched the
surface of CAD in O&P, and very few have ventured down the path of simulation, but I think
accurately constrained simulation will help us design safe AND functional devices.

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

Drew: That there would be no more suffering on Earth, that my kids could be successful in all they do,
and that my wife and I could immediately retire on Kauai.

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

Drew: I always tell prospective engineering students that the best skill they can possess is the ability to
actually make functional prototypes. Whether that is via CAD and 3DP, or coding, or with a razor
and some foamboard, or with a breadboard and some resistors. Knowing how to take an idea
from thought to reality is where actual progress happens.

Bad advice to ignore is “Say yes to everything”.

What’s your favorite book you read this year and why? Alternatively, what’s your favorite book of all times you read and why?

Drew: My favorite book of all time is a toss-up between the Holy Bible and Calvin and Hobbes, clearly,
they serve two very different purposes! One is redemption and wisdom, and the other is
entertainment and an enduring reminder not to be too serious.

Related Links:

How AI and 3D Printing Enhance Crafting Custom Orthotics and Prosthetics

3D Printed Orthotics and Prosthetics (On Demand, 2021)

3D Printing for O&P (On Demand 2023)

Interview with Brent Wright: 3D Printed Orthotics and Prosthetics
Interview with Chris Baschuk: Partial Hand Prosthetics

The post Interview with Drew Meyer: 3D Printing Orthotics and Prosthesis appeared first on 3DHeals.

Dr. Aadeel Akhtar is the CEO and Founder of PSYONIC, a company developing advanced bionic limbs that are accessible to all people with limb differences. PSYONIC’s Ability Hand is an FDA-registered bionic hand that is the fastest on the market, robust to impacts, and the first to give users touch feedback. It is also covered by Medicare in the US. The Ability Hand is being used by patients and researchers globally, including Meta and NASA. Dr. Akhtar received his Ph.D. in Neuroscience and M.S. in Electrical & Computer Engineering from the University of Illinois at Urbana-Champaign in 2016. He received a B.S. in Biology in 2007 and M.S. in Computer Science in 2008 at Loyola University Chicago. His research is on motor control and sensory feedback for prosthetic limbs, and he has collaborations with the Center for Bionic Medicine at the Shirley Ryan AbilityLab, the John Rogers Research Group at Northwestern University, and the Range of Motion Project in Guatemala and Ecuador. In 2021, he was named as one of MIT Technology Review’s top 35 Innovators Under 35 and America’s Top 50 Disruptors in Newsweek. Aadeel will be speaking at the upcoming 3D Printing O&P event.

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

Aadeel: The first encounter I had with 3D-printing was when I was a graduate student at the University of Illinois at Urbana-Champaign in 2013. We had decided to start building our own prosthetic hands at the time and were looking into how to begin. That was when we had received our first 3D printer (a MakerBot Replicator 2x) and we found open source designs on Instructables to start building the first prototypes of what is now the Ability Hand. We’ve open sourced many of our own designs as well to give back to the community.

What inspired you to start your journey in 3D printing?

Aadeel: When I was 7 years old I met someone missing a limb for the first time. She was my age, living in poverty in Pakistan missing her leg, and using a broken tree branch as a crutch. That inspired me to develop advanced bionic limbs that were more accessible than ever, leveraging 3D printing and other manufacturing techniques to make our bionic limbs.

Who inspired you the most along this journey in 3D printing (bio-printing/bio-fabrication)?

Aadeel: The patients we’ve worked with have always been our biggest inspiration. From the girl I met in Pakistan when I was 7 who was missing her leg, to our first patient Juan Suquillo in Quito, Ecuador who said he felt a part of him had come back when he made a pinch with his left hand for the first time in 35 years using an early prototype of our hand, to US Army Sgt. Garrett Anderson who lost his hand in Iraq in 2005 due to a roadside bomb and told us he could feel his daughter’s hand with our hand because of the touch feedback. I’m also inspired by the students/colleagues/employees I’ve worked with along the way to build every version of the Ability Hand over the last 9 years.

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

Aadeel: We’ve developed a lot of our own manufacturing processes for doing carbon fiber, silicone molding, etc. which has always presented challenges in how we can manufacture our hand at a price point that Medicare would cover while being more robust than most prosthetics hands, water resistant, lightweight, fast, and sensitive to touch. Funding has always been a challenge too, especially in a field with a smaller and often neglected patient population. Fortunately, our bionic hands have also been useful for humanoid robots and manufacturing robot arms. We’re in the middle of an equity crowdfunding round right now at psyonic.io/invest

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)?

Aadeel: Tolerances and resolution (at an affordable price), especially if you’re trying to make things waterproof. Machining gives you more precision than additive manufacturing. It’s possible to do these things with additive manufacturing, it just takes a lot more iteration and testing to get things just right. The potential solution would be improvements in 3D-printing technology that will hopefully come in the near future.

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

Aadeel:

Time travel

Unlimited funding with no strings

More time per day

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

Aadeel: If you want to break into this field, start building things on your own in your free time. You will then apply all the theoretical knowledge you’ve learned from your classes in a real world scenario where there are no right answers. Most of the employees we’ve hired built stuff for fun and learned the most that way. As for bad advice to ignore, we’d been told a lot that the what we were trying to build wouldn’t be viable. It’s important to take that advice carefully and understand why they’re saying it. For example, when we started fully 3D-printing our bionic hands, we quickly learned from clinicians and patients that they would destroy them very quickly. But rather than quit, we looked to the soft robotics research that used 3D-printing to make more resilient, compliant joint designs using 3D-printed mods with silicone and rubber. This proved to be very effective while still keeping costs low by using 3D-printing.

Related Articles:

3D Printing Custom-Fit Orthotics: Guide

Interview with Brent Wright: 3D Printed Orthotics and Prosthetics

3D Printing for O&P, Assistive Devices (On-Demand)

3D Printed Orthotics and Prosthetics (On-Demand)

Interview with Diana Hall: ActivArmor TM

3D Scanning for Prostheses

3D Printing and Neurology Help Prosthesis Acceptance in Children with Upper-limb Reduction Deficiency

Antimicrobial Materials for 3D Printing Medical Devices

The post Interview with Aadeel Akhtar: PSYONIC Bionic Limbs appeared first on 3DHeals.

Earlier this month, the 3DHeals community joined the staff of the Design Museum of Boston for a tour of their current exhibit: Bespoke Bodies: The Design and Craft of Prosthetics (https://designmuseumfoundation.org/boston/blog/2019/01/24/bespoke-bodies-design-craft-prosthetics-boston/), on view at the Prudential Center through the end of August. We learned about the prosthetics for different parts of the body and their related challenges, how prosthetics design has advanced from passive to body-powered to electric, and the process that each amputee goes through to have a prosthetics fitted. A timeline showed the history of prosthetic design from ancient Egypt through the Civil War and into today. Hanger Clinic Manager Maggie Baumer generously showed us her prosthetic, which had been painted to match her other hand by one of the artists featured in the exhibit.

The prosthetics on display ranged from fashion pieces to high-performance devices used by Olympic athletes. Of particular interest to our group were several displays on the use of 3D scanning and printing, which allow for the creation of low-cost prosthetics for underserved populations such as children and the developing world.

At the end of the tour, attendees were able to experience MiGO, a new virtual reality experience by Hanger Clinic which immerses viewers in the lives of people with limb loss. For those who already possess VR goggles, MiGo is available to download. (http://hangerclinic.com/new-patient/Pages/GetMigo.aspx)

Related Articles:

3D Scanning and 3D Printing for Creating Affordable Prostheses

A Helping Hand to Those in Need—Improving the World with 3D Printing

3D Scanning for Prostheses

Interview: Mr. Jerry Evans, CEO of Nia Technologies Inc.

The post Bespoke Bodies: Boston Learns About the Design of Prosthetics appeared first on 3DHeals.

Want to write a piece for 3DHEALS Expert Corner? Email us: info@3dheals.com

Creating a well-made prosthesis always starts with a shape capture of a residual limb.  Traditionally this was taking a cast. However, in the 1990s, some digital options for shape capture became available. For traditional shape capture, the cast is poured with plaster of paris and then modified with various sculpting tools to create a final shape for either thermoforming or wet lamination. (Plaster of paris is a quick-setting gypsum plaster consisting of a fine white powder (calcium sulfate hemihydrate), which hardens when moistened and allowed to dry.) With digital fabrication, the shape capture is acquired digitally and then modified on a computer.  Digital fabrication can include CNC carving a foam, plaster mold, or 3D printing.  Whether traditionally fabricated or digitally fabricated the socket is then skillfully fit by a Certified Prosthetist to evaluate and align the prosthesis. Is one process better than the other? The answer can be yes or no, but the real answer lies in how a prosthetist applies the technology and the patient outcome.

3D Scanning  

Five years ago, I would have balked at the notion that a 3D scanner would ever be a part of my practice.  I would think to myself, “Surely, I would not be able to get the fit I needed or the modification appropriate if I went digital.”

One day, however, a colleague challenged me by saying, “Brent, just trying to scan a cast of yours and have it carved and fabricated and let me know how the test socket fits.” Scan the cast? Outsource fabrication? I was in doubt but did it anyway.  The socket was traditionally fabricated over a CNC carved foam mold.  As I was on the way to fit the socket, my mind was already made up, “it was never going to work, such a dumb idea, and at least I have a cast, and I can do it the way I always do it.” The patient was waiting for me to put the test socket on, and I did.  I couldn’t believe it; the test socket was so close! I thought, maybe this scanning idea IS a viable option. Perhaps this process could save me some of my most valuable asset, time.

I started researching and exploring how I could consistently scan and get the results I needed. Should I direct scan and rectify, or should I create a cast with my modifications already in it and then scan that?  I settled on digitizing the inside of my cast. However, I also found that scanning the outside of the cast got me very close to the shapes I needed for a good fit. I manipulate the cast in its green state through a variety of customized shapes that are 3D printed.  These shapes allow me to design the shapes in the cast rather than rectify digitally after the fact.

You may ask why not a direct scan of a patient’s limb?  While scanners are very good at capturing shape, they do not capture shape with weight bearing considerations.  If you digitally modify a direct scan, you are guessing what the underlying anatomy and tissue are going to do.  If you cast and then scan that you have the volume needed plus what the tissue is going to do under load.  It may be an extra step, but I would rather be close than a guess. 

Well, how do we cast? 

For transtibial patients (with below the knee amputation), we are firm believers in a wide AP socket style similar to what Coyote Design does with Stabilflex. The basic idea is we use a fiberglass cast as tight as the fiberglass can handle (one step under ripping) and cast a patient with the knee fully extended. This casting method provides a baseline and can be customized with extra care on shaping the cast anteriorly, adding pads under the cast to get reliefs, and thus holding tight in medial-lateral direction but not touching in the anterior-posterior direction. The purpose of this cast is to capture what the tissue does under load and achieve an appropriate volume.  The reason the knee is extended for the cast is to have the best fit when the weight is entirely on the prosthesis which is during heel strike and single limb support.  We know that a cast or a scan is only a snapshot of the patient’s limb in motion, and we choose that snapshot to be when they are fully extended and weight-bearing.  At that point, we scan the inside or outside of the cast.

For transfemoral (above the knee amputation) patients, we still use fiberglass, but we do not pull very tight.  While the cast is getting set up, we use plastic shapes from our library to push into the cast similar to what the ISPO casting jig and the Berkley Cast jig historically did. Once you take the cast off and it is modified, then we scan the inside or outside of the cast.

What do we use to scan?

We have two scanners that we use consistently. Daily, we use an app called Digiscan3D on an iPad with a Structure Sensor.  LifeNabled initially commissioned the development of this app to allow non-profits specifically in the developing world; however, many private clinics asked for access, and they added it to the app store. Digiscan3D is a paid app with all proceeds going to helping those in the developing world gain access to a prosthesis.  The unique aspect of this app is the only app that exports natively as a  .STL file with an appropriate scale in millimeters.    The scans are clean, and it can be used without a connection to the internet as all data is located locally on the iPad or iPhone.

The other scanner we use is the Artec Eva.  Eva allows us to split casts and scan both sides and put them together for a positive mold.  Between both scanners, we can cover all shapes that we would encounter in the orthotic and prosthetic realm.

About the Author:

W. Brent Wright is an ABC-Certified Prosthetist and BOC-Certified Orthotist with Eastpoint Prosthetics and Orthotics in Raleigh, NC.  He has been in the field since he started as a technician at age 16 and has seen first hand how additive technology is evolving and impacts patients not only in the US but also in the developing world.

Brent is pioneering techniques to effectively use additive technology such as MultiJet Fusion and Selective Laser Sintering to create dynamic prostheses that are light as well as flexible.  He is excited that prosthetists have a chance to be a part of the industrial revolution where mass customization and patient outcomes collide. 

Brent is the Clinical Director of LifeNabled, a non-profit that specializes in manufacturing all new low-cost and high quality prostheses.  LifeNabled has developed a scanning app for the iPad and iPhone called Digiscan3D and also has developed a suitcase 3D printer that can be deployed anywhere in the world.

Related Articles:

3D Scanning and 3D Printing for Creating Affordable Prostheses

A Helping Hand to Those in Need—Improving the World with 3D Printing

3D Printed Orthopedic Implants in China and the Challenges in Commercialization

The post 3D Scanning for Prostheses appeared first on 3DHeals.

Want to write a piece for 3DHEALS Expert Corner? Email us: info@3dheals.com

Overview

Over the past 18-24 months, professional 3D scanning and printing technologies have evolved to such a point that even across industries widely known for their adherence to the strictest levels of accuracy, they can no longer be ignored. This is particularly the case in the medical field; specifically, for the purpose of this present article, in orthotics and prosthetics. Following the emergence of 3D scanning technologies in the field, due to concerns regarding insufficient levels of accuracy, many orthotists and prosthetists remained hesitant about moving forward into the adoption of such technologies, choosing instead to continue on with plaster casting, among other traditional methods. But, as is the case with nearly everything high tech, the difference between then and now in the world of 3D scanning and printing is like night and day.

To highlight one very successful use of 3D scanning and printing among many, let’s venture down to the southern hemisphere, to a non-profit prosthetics clinic in rural Guatemala where they’re scanning disabled children and using 3D printing to create for the new and affordable, highly functional, yet extremely durable arms and legs. LifeNabled, founded and run by ABC Certified Prosthetist and Board Certified Orthotist Brent Wright. Brent came up with the new designs in response to the rugged and humid environment in rural Guatemala, and to give you an idea of the cost savings of his 3D-designed prostheses, the standard going price for a standard AK (above the knee) prosthesis is about $15,000, but Wright makes his for only $300. A new foot? Just $50. A knee replacement? Only $70.

These degrees of affordability and functionality simply can no longer be ignored. To hold up another example, if you look at the cost of materials for making a prosthetic arm the traditional way, it’s in the $800-$1200 range, but when it’s done with 3D printing, which LifeNabled began doing in 2016, “We can make an arm for approximately $4 in materials costs,” said Wright.

Such low costs and easy-to-create designs (in a matter of hours) have allowed Wright and his team of helpers, all working via the support of generous donors, to create 30-40 new prostheses in the 6-7 days that they’re visiting the clinic at Hospital Shalom twice a year. They also see another 10-20 existing patients during each visit, for any adjustments, repairs, etc.

For 3D scanning, Wright and his clinic use an Artec Eva, a professional handheld structured-light scanner that quickly creates highly-accurate, lifelike 3D models that are easily exported to programs such as Geomagic Freeform, which is Wright’s choice of software for designing and modifying his 3D models prior to printing. He also has integrated Fusion 360 into his workflow, as it gives him the freedom of designing joints and custom features for the clinic’s revolutionary prostheses.

“The beautiful thing about making prostheses this way, with Eva and then digital processing, is that I can do it anywhere, literally. Once the scanning’s done, and it’s done fast, I can even sit down in front of the TV with my laptop and do the rest of the design work right there,” said Wright.

Twice a year, every year, since 2006, Wright and his wife Meredith have been traveling to Guatemala, to the clinic at Hospital Shalom. With time, they’ve been carrying more and more gear in their suitcases and carry-on bags. Today such an inventory includes the following: Artec Eva, two 3D printers (Filament Innovations), a high-powered Alienware laptop, aluminum pylons for prosthetic legs, plastic filaments for the 3D printers (CF PETG, PETG, polycarbonate, etc.), prosthetic knees, Niagara feet, fiberglass for casting, and whatever else they can fit.

As of today, LifeNabled has created more than 400 prostheses for amputees in Guatemala. Many of their once-very-young patients are now nearing adulthood. In the past, such children would’ve grown up to be adults without a future, but today, these patients are pursuing their dreams, attending schools and courses to become doctors, teachers, business people, even volunteers at the same clinic which turned their lives around.

Conclusion

3D scanning and printing technologies have matured to the point of being entirely ready for widespread adoption, and not merely by advanced clinics and hospitals. Medical specialists around the world, in everything from prosthetics to implant dentistry, plastic surgery to ergonomic exoskeletons, have been adopting 3D scanning and printing as their go-to method of choice, bringing both their patients and themselves previously-unreached levels of comfort, flexibility, cost savings, precision, and more.

About the Author:

Andrei Vakulenko is the Chief Business Development Officer at Artec 3D. Prior to this role, Andrei was the company’s Vice President of New Markets. Andrei has over 16 years’ experience as a partner, CEO, and co-founder of high tech venture businesses from seed investments and incubators to venture funds management. Projects focused on IT and Internet business including SaaS, mobile, e-commerce, community building, recreation and travel, biometrics and pattern recognition, e-passports and machine-readable travel documents; as well as optoelectronics, and gas-to-liquid technology.

Related Articles:

Cardiac 3D Printing: The Heart of the Matter

A Helping Hand to Those in Need—Improving the World with 3D Printing

3D Printing for Cancer Treatment – Radiation Therapy Liver Phantom

Challenges Facing 3D Printing in Reconstructive Surgeries

The post 3D Scanning & Printing for Creating Affordable Prostheses appeared first on 3DHeals.

Sean Boatright is a Certified Prosthetist, practicing in the East Bay.  He studied prosthetics at Cal State Dominguez Hills and has been working in the field of Orthotics and Prosthetics since 2006.  He has been with Diablo Prosthetics & Orthotics in Walnut Creek, CA for the past 6 years. Had one of the first patients to walk on an entirely 3D printed prosthesis and continues to utilize the technology to better provide for his patients.

Mr. Boatright will be speaking at the San Francisco event!

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

Sean: My first encounter with 3D printing, which was actually two events that happened almost simultaneously, was around 2014.  The first of the two happened as I came across a movie on Netflix called “Print the Legend.” Very shortly after I was introduced to Jeff Huber, CEO of Standard Cyborg.  Both had immediately opened my eyes to the capabilities of this technology.

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

Sean: My excitement of how I could apply this technology into my field inspired me to get more involved in 3D printing.

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

Sean: I was most inspired by Jeff Huber of Standard Cyborg.  His passion not only for the technology but how he approached the application of 3D printing to help the amputee population was very impressive.

Jenny: What motivates you the most for your work?

Sean: Having a positive influence on my patients’ lives and being able to help them along their journey to attaining their goals.

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

Sean: Each patient of mine presents with a very unique situation.  There is never one solution that works for everyone so my job is to understand what certain obstacles may be and why they are happening.  Then create a plan to rectify the problem and enhance how the patient’s prosthesis or orthosis functions/fits for them.

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)?

Sean: The biggest challenge has been getting other practitioners that have been in the field longer than myself, to actually learn this technology and put it into practice.  Also, issues with material strength and cost-effectiveness are a common theme.

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

Sean: I still feel very fortunate to have begun my career in O&P at a time where hand casting and plaster modifications were the only methods of fabricating prostheses and orthoses.  My advice would be to students would be to not completely discount those hand skills. Dedicate some time to learn and put into practice those skills. For me having that experience has enhanced my ability to translate the core principles of socket design from a plaster model to a computer screen.

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?

Sean: We have things to do.  It’s time to get up and do them.

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

Sean: Committing the time to learn and now continue to use the scanning and modeling software has been the best investment for me as a practitioner.

I can’t say I have made any bad investments so far.  I will say that we, as a company, had looked into purchasing 3D printers for our offices and if we did that a few years ago I don’t think that would have been the best decision at the time.

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

Sean: I enjoy traveling and spending quality time with my wife.  I also compete professionally in BBQ competitions throughout the year.

Jenny: What is your favorite quote? Why?

Sean: “Progress is not achieved by luck or accident, but by working on yourself daily.”

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

Sean: 3DHEALS to me represents passionate individuals who want to make a significant impact in the medical field and patients’ lives.

The post Interview: Mr. Sean Boatright, Certified Prosthetist at Diablo Prosthetics and Orthotics appeared first on 3DHeals.

Shashi Jain is an IoT Innovation Manager at Intel Corporation, pathfinding new applications for Intel technology in IoT, Machine Learning, and VR. He’s passionate about generative design for medical products and the e-NABLE Community, delivering 3D printed prosthetic hands to anyone in need. He will be a speaker at #3DHEALS2018.
Jenny: When was the first encounter you had with 3D printing? What was that experience like? What were you thinking at that moment?
Shashi: My first encounter with 3D Printing was through an Intel project, a new business initiative. We were building a new kind of computing device and the plastic enclosure was 3D printed. It was a complex design given life in a brittle plastic but was one of the most remarkable things I’d ever seen.
Jenny: What inspired you to start your journey in 3D printing (bio-fabrication/bio-printing)?
Shashi: A few years after my first encounter with 3D printing, I was closing up a small software startup and decided to take a break to explore something new. I remembered my experience with 3D printing and decided to buy a desktop 3D printer to experiment with. My first printer was a small DLP printer built from a kit I found near my hometown in Kansas. From there, I printed dozens of small trinkets and useful bits like cable organizers. The print volume was quite small, so I decided to invest in an FDM printer- a MakerBot Replicator 2. Long story short, I soon had a stable of three printers and decided they needed to make money, so I started MatterCompilers.com, a reseller and consultant to startups in 3D printing.
On the healthcare 3D printing side, I was able to team up with UNYQ to put a sensor in their Align 3D Printed Scoliosis brace. We learned that visualizing data can help with patient compliance, but were surprised that the same data could be used to optimize the design of the brace. The key insight is that a person’s own data can be used to optimize a product for lifestyle instead of just strength or weight as we do today.
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.
Shashi: The e-NABLE movement has been a source of constant inspiration. Ivan and Jen Owen did something magical for the world in showing them they could manufacture devices that change an individual’s life. The people whom I’ve fitted prosthetic hands inspire me as well. Each has had a transformative journey that I’ve been lucky to share. One, a boy named Juan, transformed from a reserved, anxious kid into a person driven to give back, all during the course of fitting him with a Spiderman-themed hand.
I’ve been very inspired by Eythor Bender and the crew at UNYQ, who have literally changed the discussion from Stigma to Style for prosthetics and orthotics wearers through 3D printing.
Lastly, I’ve been greatly inspired by my friends and colleagues in the Portland 3D Printing Lab community, a Meetup I created a few years back, which has over 1250 members and has done a number of cool group projects like #CrowdCow and #RodinRemix.

Jenny: What motivates you the most for your work?
Shashi: I’m motivated by the thought that personalization of physical products at scale is possible. We can have products that work best for us using data we collect daily. IoT and 3D Printing together are making that possible.
                                         
Jenny: What advice would you give to a smart driven college student in the “real world”? What bad advice you heard should they ignore?
Shashi: Never stop learning, particularly from those who have more experience. You don’t have to take all the advice, but learn how to make it work for you.  Last, spend the time to solve actual problems that people are experiencing. Ideas are great, but finding real problems to solve is better.
Jenny: What were/was the best investment you made in 3D printing/bio-printing/bio-fabrication?
Shashi: The best investment I made was to build a community around 3D printing. I’ve learned so much from the members of that community and how to mobilize enthusiasts in early technology. We’ve also engaged in projects that pushed the boundaries of crowd printing and art.
Jenny: What were/was the worst investment you made in 3D printing/bio-printing/bio-fabrication?
Shashi: I’ve worked with a few companies that have failed, but honestly I’ve learned something from each one, so there wasn’t a catastrophic failure. I have had my fair share of bad early 3D printers, though.
Jenny: What do you enjoy in your spare time? What are you passionate about outside of your work/3d printing?
Shashi: I’m passionate about entrepreneurship as a career. I teach an invention curriculum using Innovation and entrepreneurship methods to high school students via the TiE Young Entrepreneurs program. The curriculum I’ve designed is taught to over 1000 students annually across the globe in 30+ cities.
Jenny: What is your favorite quote? Why?
Shashi: “They tried to bury us. They didn’t know we were seeds.” – Mexican Proverb
New technologies and approaches to problems are often dismissed or buried by incumbents. Innovators must learn to seed and grown in any conditions no matter how far they are buried. Life will find a way.
Jenny: What does the word “3DHEALS” mean to you? =)
Shashi: 3DHEALS = 3D HEALS = Dream, Design, Deploy Healing technology

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Jeff Huber is Co-Founder and CEO of Standard Cyborg. He studied Economics and Industrial Engineering at N.C. State before dropping out to launch a startup. He most recently worked as a software engineer and Head of Product for another venture-backed startup. Jeff was born with Fibular Hemimelia and has been a below-knee amputee his whole life. Mr. Huber will be a speaker at the #3DHEALS2018 conference on April 20-21st, 2018. 

Jenny: When was the first encounter you had with 3D printing? What was that experience like? What were you thinking at that moment?
Jeff: In 2008 – I was taking an industrial engineering class at NC State. The class was on manufacturing methods and we were learning about 3D printers. In that moment it clicked: prosthetics and orthotics is the perfect use case! I learned later that NC State had done a bunch of early work on medical metal 3D printing and osseointegration. I believe they had one of the first Arcam systems in the US.

Jenny: What motivates you the most for your work?
Jeff: Leaving the world better than I found it
Jenny: What is/are the biggest obstacle(s) in your line of work? If you have conquered them, what were your solutions?
Jeff: It’s very hard to build a great engineering team in Silicon Valley. I’m happy to say we’ve done it and are doing it, but it definitely takes longer than you would want!
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)?
Jeff: By far, ease of use. 3D printers are at least 100x more difficult than 2D printers. I think for them to go mainstream, that has to be overcome.
Jenny: What advice would you give to a smart driven college student in the “real world”? What bad advice you heard should they ignore?
Jeff: Don’t copy other people – find what you uniquely can offer the world and go hard after that. You should ignore “follow” your passions. Passion is by nature ephemeral; instead, find the work that is meaningful to you. It’s an important nuance. Once you find it, become the best at it in the world. Then be ok moving the target 2 years later. You will never regret focusing very hard on something for 2 years. The “marshmallow test” is real.
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?
Jeff: Don’t forget the patient.
Jenny: What do you enjoy in your spare time? What are you passionate about outside of your work/3d printing?
Jeff: I’m an avid reader – reading at length about the philosophy of technology.
Jenny: What is your favorite quote? Why?
Jeff: “Look for surprises” – Unknown

 
 

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2016 was an exciting year for healthcare 3D printing. Heavy investments, mergers and acquisitions, and strategic partnerships from front-runners of the industry seem to mark the beginning of an exciting era for the industry.

Top Ten Events in 2016 in Healthcare 3D Printing

1. January 2016, Stryker Bought A 3D Printing “Farm”:

2016 started with a BAM! after Stryker announced its new 3D printing facility costing upwards 400 million dollars. Fully aware of the competitive landscape of medical implants, Stryke’s investment in 3D printing is in alignment with its innovative culture. Immediately following that, in March, Stryker received FDA clearance for its 3D printed spinal fusion device, not the first in the company’s history. Also, because of intrinsic technical advantages of 3D printing, using the technology as a production tool may also save the company money in the long run, especially in light of increasing number of FDA approved 3D printed implants.

2. January 2016, Johnson & Johnson Partners with Carbon 3D for Surgical Devices: 

What Johnson & Johnson is up to next has been the focus of 3D printing and healthcare lately, as its increasing interest in digital manufacture is becoming very clear. This can be traced back to its partnership with Organovo a few years ago, to its emphasis on personalized medicine and precision medicine. Given Carbon’s CLIP technology, a formidable collection of materials, and a strong life science division including ex-FDA experts, the partnership will prove exciting to the entire industry in the next few years.

3. March 2016, 3D System Announces State-of-Art Healthcare Technology Center:

3D System has a long history of involvement in healthcare. To date, it is still the main partner with Align Technology, serving as the best example of mass customization. After several acquisitions ranging from Medical Modeling to Simbionix, it is finally consolidating its multiple lines of products ranging from simulation tools to implants into a comprehensive design and production center for healthcare solutions.

4. April 2016, Formlabs announces its first biocompatible resin, Dental SG:

A leader in desktop SLA printing technology, Formlabs announces class 1 biocompatible resin this year. The most immediate beneficiary is the dental community, where is an increasing interesting in bringing multiple manufacture processes in-house, ranging from surgical guides, braces, to dental crowns, among others. More and more printer choices and material selection from desktop 3D printing community can not only make many existing procedures cheaper and faster but can also encourage more profession innovations in a clinician’s office.

5. April & May 2016, Stratasys, Materialise, and More Collaborate with Clinical Partners.    

In recent years, more and more medical doctors are open to 3D printing as an excellent surgical simulation tool. Many consider it more useful than existing 2D medical imaging or computational simulation in improving operational safety and outcome by providing additional visual and haptic experiences for the surgeon before the actual surgeries. However, lack of reimbursement due to insufficient clinical evidence makes a wider adoption of the technology challenging. In April, Stratasys announced its strategic partnerships with the Jacobs Institute for clinical studies and innovations. Immediately following that, another industrial giant Materialise announced its support to clinical trials and collaboration with healthcare providers during the RAPID conference. These partnerships among industrial leaders and major clinical and research institutes will undoubtedly accelerate data accumulation and innovation in the next few years.

6. May 2016, FDA Issues Long-Awaited 3D-Printing Guidance for Medical Devices:

This news is probably the most important announcement to the field of healthcare 3D printing, no matter what part of the ecosystem you belong to. Readers can also find the latest updates on the FDA website. The guideline in many ways will dictate the direction of future innovations and business strategies.

7. May 2016, HP Delivers First Ready-To-Print 3D Printing System, Collaborates with Materialise, Siemens, Autodesk for software:

HP Jet Fusion 3D printing technology claims to be up to 10x faster, and more than half cost reduction. Speed and cost are two very critical (and sometimes life-saving) factors in healthcare products, especially if production rather than prototyping is the end goal. Additionally, open software and material platform will significantly accelerate the potential of innovative use in the healthcare since high costs in these areas have been prohibitive in the past.

8. September 2016, GE’s Billion Dollar Purchases:

This year, General Electric bought itself two expensive early Christmas gifts, two large metal 3D printing companies, Arcam AB and SLM Solution Group. Both companies have a long history of products in both aerospace and healthcare verticals. GE itself has an extensive healthcare portfolio. Having these two companies will not only lower costs from in-house innovation cycle and production, but it will also add implant and medical device market share for GE.

9.    November 2016: Terarecon and Whiteclouds Partnership for Healthcare Solutions:

During a global radiology meeting in November (RSNA), the two companies announced their partnership to provide enterprise level one-button solution to create 3D printing simulation models for doctors. This is the first-of-its-kind collaboration between a 3D printing service bureau and a medical software company, signifying the value medical providers place on a more streamlined digital workflow.

10.  December 2016, Organovo launches a second commercial product:

Last but not the least, Organovo Inc. ended the year with an uplifting announcement that it will start the second commercial product focusing on kidney tissue. This is a natural extension of the company’s existing liver tissue product. Although total organ production remains in the realm of “Westworld,” advancements in commercial bioprinting and tissue engineering now, allow for a much shorter pharmaceutical R&D cycle, reducing costs and avoiding tough ethical questions raised in animal testing. The additional unspoken benefit of IP protection by keeping drug development in-house will also manifest itself as globalization increases in drug development.

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“For me, the biggest impact will be the opportunity for surgeons to de-risk their complex operations by training the day before on their patient’s 3D printed organ twin.”

Thomas Marchand is a French entrepreneur. He founded his first startup in the services area sold to market leader in 2014. In 2015, he founded BIOMODEX with Sidarth Radjou (Biomechanical Engineer from Centrale Paris). This Medtech startup develops 3d printed synthetic organs from CT scan for surgery & interventional training.Mr. Marchand will be a speaker at #3DHEALS2017.

 
 
Q: What is your vision on the intersection of 3D Printing and healthcare?

A: 3D printing offers two huge values for me in the healthcare space. First, this amazing technology allows us to model very complex organic shapes that can’t be fabricated with another manufacturing technology. Second, 3D printing is the first way today to manufacture patient-specific prosthesis, surgical guides or models for pre-operative training.

Q: What is the biggest potential impact you see 3D printing (or bioprinting) having on the healthcare industry?

A: For me, the biggest impact will be the opportunity for surgeons to de-risk their complex operations by training the day before on their patient’s 3D printed organ twin.

Q: What challenges do you see arising in implementing 3D printing (or bioprinting) in the healthcare sector in the next five years?

A: The huge stake is to be able to understand how to use currently available materials in 3D printing to reproduce targeted mechanics for custom made prosthesis or models that must react the same (way) as real organs to be relevant to clinical applications.

Q: Who inspires you the most in the 3D printing industry?

A: Everybody’s inspiring! I mean we all have a responsibility to spread the technology, innovate, and make this market grow together.

Q: What is the best business lesson you have learned?

A: Every move you make must create value.

Q: What is the biggest business risk you have taken?

A: Leading a Medtech startup is a risk on its own!

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