Medical device companies and physicians from Walter Reed Army Medical Center, Mayo Clinic, and other health-care institutions will unveil how additive manufacturing and 3D printing are transforming the practice of medicine through new scanning techniques, new methods for limb and joint replacement and faster, and less expensive production of devices and implants at RAPID 2011 Conference & Exposition, May 23–25, at the Hyatt Regency in Minneapolis.

Co-located with 3D IMAGING, RAPID 2011 will feature more than 15 technical sessions on medical applications and tours of Starkey Laboratories, a Minneapolis company that has pioneered the use of additive manufacturing for hearing devices as well as RedEye On Demand, a digital manufacturing service center and subsidiary of Stratasys, one of the first companies to develop a process for use of thermoplastic materials in additive manufacturing.

Douglas Owsley, Ph.D., curator division head, Physical Anthropology, at the Smithsonian Institution for the National Museum of Natural History in Washington DC will deliver a keynote on the application of scanning and additive technologies for skeletal research on 17th century colonists and ancient Americans.

Panel sessions for the Medical and Rapid Implant Manufacturing Track include:

• “Using 3D Photography in the Creation of Plastic Surgery Guides and Maxillofacial Prosthetic Molds,” Peter Liacouras, Walter Reed Army Medical Center

• “Custom Implants: Case Study from Injury to Implementation,” Stephen Rouse, Walter Reed Army Medical Center

• “Fabricating TMJ Implants for Clinical Research at Mayo Clinic,” Joel Kuhlmann, Mayo Clinic

• “Titanium Foams with Additive Manufacturing Technologies,” Emanuele Magalini, Eurocoating

• “Automated 3D Scanning and Analysis of Arthritic Joints: A Systems Integration Case Study,” Damion Shelton, threeRivers 3D

• “Additive Manufacturing in Orthopedics,” Dr. Urs Schneider Fraunhofer, Institution for Manufacturing Engineering and Automation

• “Building on the Body,” Scott Summit, Bespoke Innovations

• “Clear Steps for an Efficient Future,” Alistair McCance, Ortho Pro-Teknica

• “Model Development for Track-and-Deploy Tests Using Mimics and 3-Matic,” Konix Varahoor, Medtronic

• “RM in Medicine: Past, Present and Future,” Jules Poukens, Orbis Sittard & Atrium Heerlen Medical Center

• “Development of an Implantable Stainless Steel According to Medical Specifications,” Olli Nyrhila, EOS

• “Reducing Costs and Enhancing Performance Using Additive Manufacturing,” Jim Robinson, Arcam

• “Patient-Specific Treatments through AM Surgical Guides,” Colleen Wivell and Neil Zeng, Materialise

• “Custom Transdermal Osseointegrated Prosthetics, Is that the Future?” Ola Harrysson, North Carolina State University

• “Medical Device Production with Additive Manufacturing: Quality Control,” Andy Christensen, Medical Modeling

For more information and to register for the event, visit www.sme.org/RAPID.

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