We are a work group made up of three people, which was born in 2015, and hace been applying 3D printing to the medical field since then.
http://www.modelosmedicos.com
In 2016 we decided to make our project into something serious, and we founded Mirai.
Besides being good friends, we work great together:
Santiago Birkner de MIGUEL, 21 year old Biomedical Engineering student in Favaloro University. He is in charge of segmentation, design and 3D printing.
Lucas Julian Mey, 23 year old Mecatronic Technician from Huergo Institute, and senior in Biomedical Engineering at Favaloro University. He also works in research at the university and handles software development in Mirai.
Matias Ezequiel Biancucci, 23 year old Electro-mechanic Technician from Philips School, currently studying Industrial Engineering at UTN. Worked in several companies related to medicine tech. IngeRay SRL, Veccsa SA, and Philips Argentina SA, are some of which he worked at. He is in charge of management and executive aspects.
¿Why 3D printing in medicine?
3D printing offers patient-specific medical solutions. As a result, 3D printing has the potential to make treatments better and cheaper, not to mention the more effective recovery for the patient.
In Argentina, the use of this technology is not widely known.
We are willing to put this technology in the hands of everyone, and that it is commonly used in every complex surgery.
The results that 3D printing most often accomplishes are:
· Reduce OR time.
· Save money in OR supplies.
· Help perform more precise surgery.
· Make less mistakes within surgery.
· Lower bleeding, infection chances, and radiation dose.
Results
In November 18th of 2016, thanks to a 3D printed model, a surgeon from Favaloro Hospital could extract a tumor within the bronquial tree, saving the lung completely. Without the technology, the steps to follow where to take out the whole lung.
In March 6th, a similar surgery, with a much bigger tumor, was also taking part in Favaloro Hospital. By how the TC scan was read by the doctor, it was mandatory to take away a big piece of lung. Again, thanks to the use of 3D printing technology, the section of extracted lung was much smaller than what the surgeon imagined.
Objectives
We want to have more cases of success, such as the ones mentioned earlier. We are looking for funding to be able to cover costs of the models, and cover the costs of test models for other hospitals (mainly public hospitals).
Funding is a key step in making the surgeons get to know the technology,. For us, it is difficult to afford each 3D model, and public and private organizations do not cover the cost because 3D printed biomodels are new.
We know that when the surgeons have tested the models, they will understand the importance of them in pre surgical planning.
If we don't reach the 100% of the funding goal, we will use it to do the following:
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With the 10%
If we get 10% of the funding, the money will go to finance models for public hospitals.
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With the 25%
If we get 25% funding, 15% will go to financing models for public hospitals, and the extra 10% will go to execute our investment plan.
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With the 50%
If we get 50% of the goal, 20% will go to public hospital trials, 20% for the investment plan, and 10% will be used for training in specific areas related to the topic.
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With the 75%
If we get 75% of the goal, 30% will go into financing public hospital trial models. The rest will go the same as the last item, and the remaining 15% will be invested in researchh and development, such as surgical guides, software, bioprinting, and patient-specific implants.