(narrator) for a long time australia’s been pretty goodat mass producing objects, but there’s a lot of scenarioswhere that’s no use. sometimes you needa one off object with very particular attributes,and you need it fast.
3d printed cast for broken bones, in 2014 a man in melbournehad cancer in his heel bone and was facing a legamputation below the knee. ordinarily that wouldhave been the end of it, and the patient would have mobilityissues for the rest of his life.
but he had a surgeon atmelbourne’s st vincent’s hospital who luckily had seen some of ourwork in titanium 3d printing. he got in touch withour lab 22 facility, who then involved a medicaldevices company called anatomics. we combined their knowledgeof implant design with our 3d printing expertise. in just two weeks we hada replacement heel bone made out of titanium. it was strong enough tosupport the human body.
it varied in texturewhere needed, smooth surfaces whereit meets other bones, rough surfaces where itneeds to adhere to tissue, and holes for suture locations. and it was the precise dimensions tobe a perfect fit for the patient. it was a world first,and it worked. the patient kept his leg.
we can use this approach tosolve all kinds of problems, not just biomedical ones,
but in the automotive industry,manufacturing, and aerospace. 3d printing is the way of thefuture, and we’re already there.
