Fusetec opens 3D printed body part surgery training clinic

South Australian medical device company, Fusetec has opened what it believes is the world’s first 3D Advanced Surgical Training Clinic to demonstrate techniques to create and surgically implant 3D printed body parts.

The company, which manufactures training systems and provides clinical training services, invested $6.8 million in the new clinic at Adelaide’s BioMed City, adjacent to the South Australian Medical Research Institute and the Royal Adelaide Hospital.

The clinic will create 157 direct jobs and potentially 800 indirect roles in the fields of research, production and administration, according to the company.

Fusetec CEO Mark Roe said: “The clinic will also be used to develop new surgical procedures and techniques.

“It will also be used for new tool training, like the cutting-edge Johnson and Johnson surgical robotic system, currently being installed.

Roe said the 3D clinic would attract international surgeons and Tier 1 medical device companies to South Australia, connecting universities, local industry and international companies to collaborate and develop new cutting-edge capabilities.

The new 25 bed clinic will utilise 3D advanced manufactured, anatomically accurate, human body parts – disrupting the cadaver market by providing fully operable manufactured products with no harmful infectious diseases, and pathology on demand.

It is expected the clinic will attract surgeons and medical staff from around the globe to rehearse and upskill on rare and complex pathologies.

Fusetec’s fully operable surgical simulation models provide robust tissue interaction and tactile response that can be created to simulate specific pathology.

Fusetec 3D can assist in product development from needle training models to organ reproductions with pathology, allowing trainees to develop skill by repetitive rehearsal.

The $6.8 million investment made by Fusetec forms part of the company’s $26.5 million expansion plan in South Australia.

Picture: Fusetec

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