Ricoh USA, Inc. has officially announced the launch of ita flagship Point of Care 3D medical device manufacturing facility named the RICOH 3D for Healthcare Innovation Studio. Going by the available details, this manufacturing facility is designed to improve clinical outcomes and quality of life, all for purpose of providing clinicians with easy and immediate access to development, design, and manufacturing services for patient-specific, 3D-printed anatomic models. Once developed, these models can then be used for surgical planning and patient education. To understand the significance carried by such a development, though, we must acknowledge how patient care teams with limited access to 3D-printed anatomic models often suffer from workflow disruptions, lead time issues, resources, and regulatory compliance when attempting to acquire patient-specific anatomic models. This, like you can guess, eventually impacts the standard of patient care. In response to that, the new healthcare innovation studio leverages Ricoh’s HIPAA-compliant, ISO 13485-certified 3D medical device manufacturing center and Managed Services pedigree to develop, design, and produce 3D-printed anatomic models., More on the same would reveal that the new on-site center conceives in-person access to clinical resources and 3D-printing expertise, as well as to multidisciplinary team collaboration across national networks, thus providing clinicians and patients a bigger line-up of experts and support for enhanced care. Building upon that collaboration aspect, the studio also actively tries to increase communication and feedback between the care team and Ricoh staff to drive innovation for personalized patient care and connect data relaying the benefits of using 3D-printed anatomic models. The latter bit is specifically done to help drive reimbursement.
Coming back to Ricoh’s pledge of producing patient-specific anatomic models, it does so via additive manufacturing, using segmented 3D print files created from medical images in FDA-cleared applications. In essence, these models can be used for diagnostic purposes in various medical fields, including craniomaxillofacial, orthopedic, cardiovascular, neurological, gastrointestinal, genitourinary, and breast applications.
Contextualizing the potential of anatomic models are certain observations where we saw that surgeons using 3D-printed anatomic models experienced an average operation time savings of 62 minutes, marking a 7.8% reduction in operative time. Next up, we saw how nearly 50% of surgeons were able to redefine their surgical approach when a 3D model was used during the planning stage. Moving on, the stated models also triggered a major cutback on costs, as when surgeons used them for diagnostic purposes, they generated an average cost savings of $3,720 per case. Then, there is in play an assortment of educational opportunities, where you can expect 3D-printed models to offer cadaver-free training, clearer communication, and education for patients. Another thing you can expect from such models would be accurate insights into a patient’s anatomy beforehand; insights that will let clinicians better evaluate and understand complex conditions to effectively prepare a more informed approach for procedures and care. Finally, the models in question aid our case by decreasing compliance concerns. Thanks to Ricoh’s award-winning Managed Services platform, 3D-printing expertise and FDA 510(k)-cleared anatomic models, the on-site Point of Care 3D medical device manufacturing facility will look to seamlessly meet regulatory and legal compliance requirements.
The new manufacturing facility has already partnered with Atrium Health Wake Forest Baptist and Wake Forest University School of Medicine to create a Medical 3D Printing Center of Excellence, This the organizations will do in collaboration with Wake Forest Innovations and Innovation Quarter.
“As we look to integrate and scale Point of Care facilities within health systems nationally, we’re extremely grateful that Atrium Health Wake Forest Baptist has partnered with us to make the first facility a reality, and we look forward to growing 3D production within their network and in other hospital systems across the country,” said Gary Turner, Managing Director of Additive Manufacturing at Ricoh USA, Inc.