RapidPro 2012 - Patient specific implants produced with Additive Manufacturing Technology based on CT

Great presentation by Maikel Beerens from Xilloc Medical B.V. On patient specific implants produced with Additive Manufacturing Technology. They are a Dutch company that makes specially designed implants that are patient specific based on the CT dataset obtained from the patient. They are working on an online order system for the physician to easily construct and order the implants required. He really showed the direct application of additive manufacturing to build both the anatomical models of the patient and the actual implants based on convincing patient cases where the patient really had a large benefit from these implants. They use a hydroxy appetite coating on the implants to increase ingrowth of soft tissue.
It is difficult to get this technique accepted in medicine, but the cost reductions are significant.