Belgium applies 3D printing technology in the field of medical implants

Among the scientists driving the field is Professor Liesbet Geris of the University of Liège (ULiège). She is one of the recent winners of an award from the AstraZeneca Foundation for her work “The Pursuit of Bone Transplantation – Using Digital Models in the Field of Tissue Engineering”.

The jury of the Foundation for Scientific Research and its Dutch-speaking partner, FWO, chose to reward Professor Liesbet Geris for her “gyroscope” 3D implant prototype.

Professor Liesbet Geris’s team created numerical models based on thousands of data from previous transplants. This allows the development of a specific shape, allowing 3D printing with a natural material found in bones, calcium phosphate.

Thanks to this particular data – a structure known as a “gyroscope” – human cells are more attracted to this biomaterial than to materials currently used for transplantation in current medicine.

3D implants are being developed to treat all patients who – due to severe injury, accident or illness – cannot be relied on to correct bone tissue without the implant, because of the “vulnerability”. ” too big. These can be people who have had their tumors removed or who have a genetic condition, such as neurofibromatosis, characterized in some cases by bone damage, or a person who needs dental implants but no longer has enough. bones to perform.

In all of these situations, a 3D-printed element can be implanted and a biomaterial can then attract the patient’s cells to form new tissue around them. that will integrate completely into the patient’s body.

3D printing technology applied in the field of medical implants by Professor Liesbet Geris is expected to create a revolution in this field.

* Invite readers to watch programs broadcast by Vietnam Television on TV Online and VTVGo!