ISABIAL and the University of Alicante (UA) create a joint research unit for the design and 3D printing of biomedical products
The new platform will develop projects aimed at improving people’s health and quality of life within the framework of personalized and regenerative medicine
The unit will be presented at the BIOFAB Conference, which will take place next February 24 at the Polytechnic IV building of the University of Alicante
Alicante (22.02.23). The Alicante Institute for Health and Biomedical Research (ISABIAL) and the University of Alicante (UA) have launched the Joint Research Unit in Biomedical Design and Manufacturing for the development of projects focused on surgical planning, medical and surgical instrumentation, clinical simulation, surgical guides, orthoses and prostheses, and support products, through 3D printing.
This new unit, named BIOFAB, is located at ISABIAL and the University of Alicante, and its main mission is to promote the design and manufacture of biomedical products that address medical needs using 3D printing. BIOFAB originates from the Artefactos university association, and its promoters are taking a step forward to encourage the use of technology in the healthcare field.
At BIOFAB, two 3D‑printing technologies are used: SLA (stereolithography) and FDM (fused deposition modeling). Researcher Javier Esclapés, scientific director of BIOFAB and a member of ISABIAL and the University of Alicante, notes that “with these technologies, the aim is to approach clinical intervention planning with greater safety, as they enable the creation of custom‑made instruments tailored to each patient, which is particularly useful in specialties such as traumatology or maxillofacial surgery.” Specifically, BIOFAB will develop projects involving research staff from the Radiology, Traumatology and Simulation units of ISABIAL.
The Head of the Neuroradiology Service at the Doctor Balmis Alicante General University Hospital and BIOFAB member, José Ignacio Gallego, points out that “there are errors that can be made when printed on plastic that are not repeated on a human being, and 3D printing can be adapted to each case, which provides several advantages.” In this sense, José Ignacio Gallego explains that “the main advantage is that tests can be carried out in simulation mode, so that future interventions on patients can be performed with greater safety”.
The recently created Joint Research Unit in Biomedical Design and Manufacturing will be presented at the BIOFAB Conference, which will be held on February 24 in the auditorium of the Polytechnic IV building of the University of Alicante. At this event, both the new unit and the new University Master’s Degree in Biomedical Engineering, which will start the next academic year at the UA’s Higher Polytechnic School (EPS), will be presented.
The conference will focus on the use of biomodels to improve people’s health and quality of life within the framework of personalized and regenerative medicine, through the design and manufacture of custom‑made medical products (implants, cutting and positioning guides, anatomical models, etc.) for surgical planning and simulation. It is therefore an innovative proposal which, from the field of engineering, is applied to different medical disciplines such as Radiology, Neurosurgery, Orthopedic Surgery and Traumatology, Maxillofacial Surgery, Plastic Surgery, Cardiology and Oncology, among others.
The BIOFAB Conference will feature the experience of companies from the biomedical sector and leading healthcare institutions in Spain, such as the planning and 3D‑printing unit of Sant Joan de Barcelona Hospital.
Author: José Antonio Más Cayuelas
