Healthcare major Apollo Hospitals Group on Wednesday announced its collaboration with Anatomiz3D Medtech to establish hospital 3D-printing labs in India for 3D printed implants that would enable doctors to visualise and print implants for complicated cases.

Anatomiz3D Medtech is India’s leading patient-specific solutions provider to the healthcare industry for design, 3D printing, rapid prototyping and bioprinting technologies.

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“From specialised medicines for targeted therapies to customised implants and prosthetics, 3D-printing technology is transforming the medical environment, providing a fast, accurate and economical solution to take medical care to the next level,” Prathap C Reddy, Chairman, Apollo Hospitals Group, said while addressing a virtual press conference to announce the collaboration.

The hospital 3D-printing labs would provide medical 3D printing services for better healthcare through the creation of anatomical models for pre-surgical planning and education, patient-specific cutting and drilling guides, and customised implants and implant moulds.

“It is simply called 3D printing, but the technology is complex, cutting-edge and it is the future of many areas in science and medicine,” said Sangita Reddy, Joint Managing Director, Apollo Hospitals Group.

“The convergence of 3D printing and AI enables high optimisation of design. This (3D printing) gives doctors a better understanding of their patients and improves patient comfort level with products that are designed especially for their anatomy. Patient-specific design of implantable devices and surgical tools will help optimise surgical processes and costs,” she added.

She also cited research reports and noted that the 3D printing industry is growing at a 60 per cent CAGR and is estimated to touch a market size of $125 billion by 2025 from $12 billion in 2020.

Under the collaboration, Apollo Hospitals will have in-house 3D printing labs supported by Anatomiz3D, thereby enabling better patient care and treatment planning. Hitherto, hospitals send CT or MRI scan images outside for 3D printing.

‘Over the years, we have had the opportunity to work with multiple clinicians associated with Apollo Hospitals, and it is a moment of pleasure and pride for us to bring this technology to them directly in their facility, to use in their practice as well as explore in research and development,” said Firoza Kothari, Co-founder and CTO, Anatomiz3D.

On the scope of technology, Kothari said 3D printing can be used in anything and everything that can be imaged on a CT or MRI scan, but it has more potential in certain specialisations like orthopaedics, ortho oncology, spine surgery, oral and maxillofacial surgery, neurosurgery, paediatric and adult cardiology, and iterventional radiology.

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Apollo Hospitals will roll out the in-house 3D-printing labs in seven locations including Delhi, Chennai (two locations), Kolkata, Hyderabad, Bengaluru and Hyderabad next week. It plans to extend these labs in 47 hospitals where advanced orthopaedic surgeries are conducted.

Apollo conducts about 15,000 orthopaedic implants per annum across the group hospitals, of which around 7,000 are knee joint surgeries.

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