Advent Health Nicholson Center of Celebration, FL, has just announced the launch of their Prototype Lab, an innovative new medical facility meant to encourage medical professionals in taking their ideas from a mere concept to reality—creating models and even devices that have the ability not just to change lives, but sometimes save them too. This is the wave of the future, with personalized medicine.
(Image: Advent Health Nicholson Center Prototype Lab)
Advent is known as one of the world’s leading medical training centers, continuing to provide new technology, industry knowledge, and testing. The Prototype lab will be open to physicians, researchers, engineers, and other medical professionals engaged in creating prototypes for devices.
They will have access to CAD modeling software, 3D printing, and different avenues for testing and changing designs easily.
“Our expert team can help bring an idea from ‘napkin sketch’ to reality, and our 3D printing capabilities allow inventors to hold an actual version of their device in their hands for evaluation,” said Jodi Fails, B.S., Biomedical Engineer and Prototype Lab lead at AdventHealth Nicholson Center. “Most product developers assist with creation but have to look externally for lab testing. However, with Nicholson Center’s Prototype Lab, we have the unique ability to take inventions straight from the printer to the lab for immediate testing on high-quality tissue.”
In the Prototype Lab, inventors submit their concepts to engineers who take time to understand the concept being presented, create an initial design, also very importantly—they submit a patent search to make sure there will not be any intellectual property conflicts. Once CAD 3D modeling has been completed, the design is brought to life on an in-house Objet350 Connex3 polyjet printer.
For prototyping, the Object350 is capable of printing over 1,000 different materials, to include:
- Rigid plastic
- Flexible rubber
- Transparent materials
- Full-color materials
New devices can be tested at on-site labs and can even be reviewed by the FDA.
“Beyond the technology and testing capabilities at Nicholson Center, our experts bring the pivotal industry knowledge that is so crucial to the early stages of product development,” said Lilly Graziani, Director of Corporate Development at AdventHealth Nicholson Center. “With a key balance of tradition and innovation, our engineers, physicians and clinical staff work with inventors to create a product that will reach the medical community’s ultimate goal: improving patient outcomes.”
3D printing in medicine opens the potential for impacts on a massive scale and with a multitude of labs and medical facilities already embracing the benefits of 3D design and on-demand printing. And while the technology emerged due to the curiosity and design needs of brilliant engineers in the 1980s today it is still used for its most central use: rapid prototyping.
While there are numerous medical inventors today who have created functional components and devices, the use of the prototype or model is still intensely valuable as it offers so much to everyone involved within the treatment process. First, with a 3D model being made from CT scans or X-rays, doctors and surgeons can not only diagnose an issue but can decide on a course of treatment. And while medical devices may solve a host of health problems or offer treatment, 3D printed models can be used to educate patients and their families, teach medical students and act as surgical guides in the operating room.
To learn more about the Prototype Lab or to schedule a consultation, click here.
(Image: Advent Health Nicholson Center Prototype Lab)
3D printed models are being used around the world today to explore health issues like tibial fractures, heart valve complications, and more, along with paving the way to better access in learning and sharing as medical professionals even have access to online libraries for files that can be downloaded for cases such as cardiac care.
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(Image: Advent Health Nicholson Center Prototype Lab)
[Source / Image: Advent Health Nicholson Center press release]
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