Towards the Digital Hospital: From Implant Design to In-Clinic Bio Fabrication

Abstract

The application of biocad, digital manufacturing and virtual visualization techniques for healthcare purposes is on a steady growth, with different medical units such as anesthetics, genetic medicine, dentistry and medical physics gradually adopting them on a normal basis. Whilst University-Hospitals have the advantage of having support from mechanical, bioengineering and design departments, some common questions arising from other independent healthcare systems wanting to apply digital technologies are: who can perform the design? What software is available and what is need it to operate it? How can manufacturing be adopted at point of care? This work describes the experience of different units across the Newcastle Hospitals NHS Foundation Trust on how digital design and manufacturing technologies are permeating the conventional Healthcare structure, including an insight into how the in-clinic fabrication possibilities afforded by digital technologies can change the medical devices supply chain for a variety of purposes including: medical devices development, design of teaching aids, advanced visualization and bio fabrication.