It is a cutting-edge tool that the Brest University Hospital (CHU) inaugurated on Friday. W.Print is a 3D printing platform dedicated to development of tailor-made anatomical models and medical devices. This laboratory launched in 2019 now houses no less than nine 3D printers of all sizes, combining three technologies from the most basic to the most efficient.
“This one, for example, has the capacity to print color but also different flexibility of materials. It allows us to have an incredibly fine result”boasts Samuel Guigo, a former radio manipulator who became coordinator of the platform, in front of a 90,000 euro printer.
Samuel Guigo, the coordinator of the W.Print platform. © Radio France – Nicolas Olivier
Multiple concrete applications
A major innovation, intended to benefit all staff and patients. “It is both for the surgeon and for the person who will clean the surgeon’s office, for the stretcher bearer, the nursing assistant, the laboratory assistant, the student… Each time there is a need that 3D printing can meet”assures the coordinator.
And additive manufacturing, the other name for 3D printing, has multiple concrete applications in hospitals. “It’s innovation accessible to health professionalsrejoices Florence Favrel-Feuillade, the general director of the CHU. They come with an idea and Samuel Guigo helps them design a model that will meet their expectations.”
The anatomical parts (heart valve, artery, bones, etc.) are particularly interesting to reproduce for the medical community. “It allows us to have a carbon copy of what is in the body on a full scale, that is to say at the same size. So if a surgeon wants to practice mounting a probe in an artery for example, it can”explains professor of rheumatology Alain Saraux, vice-president of research at the CHU. An obviously valid solution for training medical students.
Examples of parts recently created by the 3D printing platform. © Radio France – Nicolas Olivier
Another interest: being able to duplicate a defective part in order to avoid replacing a medical device. “It’s a logic of sustainable development, and also sometimes of non-spending because in the event of a breakdown, 3D printing can save money”insists the general director.
85 achievements in 2024
The W.Print project was launched thanks to aid of 84,000 euros from Innoveo, the endowment fund of the Brest University Hospital. But the platform does not generate operating costs: it is self-fundedthanks to the invoicing of services to external partners such as manufacturers or research laboratories.
We are undoubtedly only at the beginning of the 3D revolution in hospitals, but uses are developing: 85 projects have already been carried out this year, half as many as in 2023. 80% of the projects remain internal and directly benefit the establishment.
