May 19th and 20th marked the first definitive meeting between industry leaders to set a common standard for measuring clinical, economical and patient benefits of Medical 3D Printing. An initiative led by Materialise, in partnership with SME, the event on “Building Evidence for 3D Printing Applications in Medicine” was truly a success, and created the building blocks from which the entire 3D Printing industry will benefit.
The two-day event was a combination of presentations and in-depth discussions on how to rigorously gather evidence within the three main applications of 3D Printing in medicine: anatomical models, patient-specific surgical guides, and 3D-printed implants. It was especially wonderful to experience the collaboration across key sectors of the industry, from 3D Printing companies to medical device companies and healthcare organizations.
This unified effort has paid off and together with other industry leaders, we have managed to lay the groundwork for measuring future applications of Medical 3D Printing.
As Materialise CEO Fried Vancraen stated,
“There have been several initiatives aimed at properly measuring and validating the clinical benefits of medical 3D Printing, but all have suffered from a lack of coordination and agreed-upon research methodologies. The fact is, we can only be successful if we take an evidence-based approach across the industry, acting in concert with a set of protocols, methodologies and measurement guidelines. With the proper scientific rigor, our ambition of gaining widespread acceptance of medical 3D Printing will be realized more swiftly, and the patients whom we aim to serve will benefit the most.”
We eagerly look forward to the following edition, where discussions will continue, hopefully leading to a gain in industry credibility which will allow the widespread implementation of 3D Printing technology in the medical industry.