Some people bring data and completed designs. Others just bring simple sketches. “We have this idea for this device,” they begin. “It may only help 15 kids a year, but it could really improve their quality of life.”
Other people bring only a clinical need: “We need something to keep babies lying still after their procedure, without having to medicate them.”
To make these ideas more tangible and help launch them down a formal development path, the Boston Children’s Hospital Simulator Program, SIMPeds, has begun making its 3D printing and engineering service available to help hospital staff rapidly prototype new devices.
The service takes the 3D printing program beyond its original mission of printing patient anatomy for surgical planning.
“We’re excited by the growing number of people who have approached us wanting to make devices ranging from medical equipment to replacement parts to tailored devices for our patients,” says SIMPeds Director Peter Weinstock, MD, PhD. “Many of those coming to us are clinicians who have never worked with engineers and need help taking their idea to a first prototype. The response has been amazing.”
Working with SIMPeds engineers, a doctor, nurse or other staff member can go from an idea sketched on a napkin to a first prototype within a few weeks. Current projects include:
- 3D printing for a device for scrubbing central line hubs
- A wearable device to help mothers breastfeed premature newborns, babies with conditions such as tongue-tie or cleft lip/palate or any infant who is having trouble nursing
- Adaptive equipment for children with cerebral palsy and other conditions.
Read the full post on Vector: From napkin sketch to new product: rapid prototyping service speeds medical device development.
The opinions expressed in this blog post are the author’s only and do not necessarily reflect those of MassDevice.com or its employees.
The post How rapid prototyping is changing medical tech appeared first on MassDevice.
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