World’s Largest 3D Printed Cranial Implant Developed by Arcomedlab

The number of ways 3D printing can be applied in medicine is broad, and includes major projects that use technology to improve and even save patients’ lives. This might involve the additive manufacturing of customised implants designed to give each patient what they specifically need. The startup company Arcomedlab has recently set a new benchmark in this field by creating the world’s biggest cranial implant using 3D printing. The company stated that this implant stretches almost the full extent of the patient’s skull, from the supraorbital ridges to the occipital bone. We interviewed their team to find out more about what they do, how they use technology, and the significance of what they have achieved in the healthcare field.

3DN: Can you introduce yourself and tell us about Arcomedlab?

I’m Ilan Rosenberg, CEO and founder of Arcomedlab. I started to specialise in 3D printing with a healthcare focus in Florence, Italy in 2011. Arcomedlab, an American startup founded in 2018, leads the way internationally in the development of technology for 3D printing patient-specific, synthetic bone implants with a PEEK biopolymer. We have, to date, put in excess of 600 successful implants in LATAM. Arcomedlab was founded with the goal of making available tailored medicine to countless patients worldwide, aiming to rejuvenate and enhance their lives. ISO 13485 certified, Arcomedlab is awaiting FDA certification. Arcomedlab set out the first patent in the world for a bespoke cranial implant which can store and locally distribute numerous pharmaceuticals using a gravity-activated drip mechanism, thus interacting with the human body. In other words, this is about 4D printing.</p

3DN: What 3D printing technologies do you use and what kind of projects have you carried out with them?

We work with FDM and SLA technologies for medical use. These are not used for projects, but rather they are 600 real clinical cases, mainly skull reconstruction (cranioplasties) with custom-made implants, and facial reconstruction with custom-made implants, apart from different types of surgical planning, facilitating the surgical procedure, optimizing time, resources and achieving less invasive surgeries for patients.

3DN: You have created the world’s largest cranial implant, what does this milestone mean for technology in the medical sector?

It is a very important milestone, as it opens the doors for a new future in 3D printing technology focused on medicine or health. Today we are able to reconstruct a complete skull of patients of all different ages, as well as any bone structure of the face. We are currently starting to manufacture custom-made bone implants for different parts of the body (hip, spine, sternum, extremities, etc).

3DN: How do you see the future of 3D printing in healthcare?

3D printing is the fourth industrial revolution. In the health field, it is a game changer as it opens up endless possibilities to rehabilitate, restore, reconstruct, plan, and improve millions of surgical interventions that are performed every day. All of this is to give a better quality of life to each patient and facilitate the surgical procedures of the different specialists and doctors. I think this is just the beginning, soon we will be printing with stem cells even more personalized implants, achieving an ideal bioactivation for specific purposes in each patient’s body.

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