Orthopaedic and Spinal Surgeons at Newcastle Hospitals NHS Foundation Trust are leading the charge to improve patient care with a new in-house 3D print lab provided by axial3D, a leading medical 3D printing firm in the UK.

Newcastle Hospitals will benefit from an on-site 3D printing facility, allowing clinicians immediate access to patient-specific 3D printed models with dedicated support provided by axial3D. The partnership will also allow clinicians to spend more time focusing on patient care, rather than in a 3D print lab, thanks to axial3D’s revolutionary automated workflows that remove timely steps from the production stages.

Managed in-house 3D printing facilities, sometimes known as ‘Point-of-Care’ 3D Printing are a novel way for hospitals to provide patient-specific 3D printed models for pre-operative planning and patient consent without the need to raise capital expenditure or deploy additional resources.

The Trust, one of the top 10% best performing Trusts in the UK, will host a printer onsite at the Royal Victoria Infirmary for day-to-day use, while excess prints can be produced at axial3D’s head office and shipped to the requesting clinician, meaning the Trust can elastically scale its offering to address evolving patient needs.

Saving Time whilst Improving Lives…

Some surgeons at the Trust have already realized substantial time and cost savings from using axial3D’s 3D printed models. While treating a patient suffering from Spina Bifida and a severe kyphotic deformity, Spinal Surgeon, Mr. Andrew Bowey, saved over 120 minutes of time during a complex surgical procedure (which equates to around £8,000 GBP at time of print). The 3D model also contributed to reduced blood loss and better communication with the surgical team resulted in a better experience for the patient.

Mr. Andrew Bowey, Spinal Surgeon at Newcastle Hospitals said “3D printing has become an essential part of pre-operative planning in complex spinal cases. In Newcastle, we’re excited to now roll 3D printing out across the trust. The benefits in other areas, such as trauma, are clear to see.”

Daniel Crawford, CEO at axial3D, said, “The Orthopaedic and Spinal team at Newcastle Hospitals have an international reputation for their ground-breaking work on complex conditions. We are excited to be working closely with the team to assist in making medical 3D printing routine practice within the Trust, to ultimately help improve the quality of patient care across the region.”

“3D printing is revolutionising how we deliver patient care. axial3D has created a cost-effective and easy method for hospitals such as Newcastle to provide this technology to their patients, without impacting day to day workloads. We warmly welcome Newcastle to the growing number of institutions who have selected axial3D as their medical 3D printing partner across the world.”