Invisible Customisation - A Data Driven Approach to Predictive Additive Manufacture Enabling Functional Implant Personalisation
Lead Research Organisation:
University of Birmingham
Department Name: Chemical Engineering
Abstract
Additive manufacturing (AM), otherwise known as 3D printing, is enabling the production of medical implants that are customised, in terms of size and shape, to a person's skeleton. Compared with devices of a standard size, these personalised designs fit the patient better and as such offer improved aesthetics and reduce surgery times. While customisation has many benefits, the challenge is to ensure each bespoke device is made to the same quality. This is difficult because the implant shape is completely unique and may be very complex.
Currently in an effort to ensure quality, researchers make lots of plain cube test samples using various manufacturing settings and then compare properties before deciding what combination to use for the real implant. This trial and error approach takes a lot of time and may not even produce very predictable devices because the optimisation is not performed on shapes that are representative of real implants. In this project we will make various design features common to medical implants (e.g. curved surfaces, screw holes) and collect key performance data during and post manufacture. By using cutting edge mathematics, we will create a network that allows us to accurately predict which manufacturing settings will produce the best quality for any design shape. This tool will help businesses to standardise production of customised medical devices in a quick and accurate manner that is not dependent on the user's knowledge. Thereby we will open up the advantages of AM to more companies and help existing adopters to meet the standardisation requirements of the impending new Medical Device Regulations.
Overall this project aims to better understand the relationships between additive manufacturing settings and implant properties, which will help us to improve the quality of these anatomically personalised devices. Beyond this we plan to create a tool to enable the creation of implants that are not only customised to the size and shape of the patient's skeleton but also two critical functionalities: mechanical strength and cell adhesion. It is known that if an implant is too strong compared with the surrounding native bone this can cause it to fail. As such, developing a way to select manufacturing or design parameters that enable mechanical matching to the patient's skeleton will help implants to last longer and reduce the number of failures. Besides mechanical mismatch, the other biggest threat to bone implants is infection. Our preliminary work has shown that surface roughness directly impacts the ability of cells, mammalian and bacterial, to stick onto AM devices. In this project we will exploit this knowledge to enable users to select manufacturing settings that result in a defined surface roughness that either enables or prevents cell attachment. This novel capability could be used, for example to create implants with a surface that stops bacterial cells from sticking and thus minimises infection risks. There is also potential that this tool could help to improve bonding between the implant and native tissue by recommending manufacturing settings that result in surface topographies that encourage growth of bone forming osteoblast cells.
In summary, this project is focused on standardising the way we use 3D printing to ensure the properties of bespoke implants are predictable. This will be achieved by using mathematics to move the AM field away from trial and error. By understanding the relationships between manufacturing settings and key properties, we will create two tools that will enable us to make functionally personalised devices. The ability to predictively and selectively tailor mechanical properties and surface roughness will drive a new generation of implants that last longer and fail less often. Thereby, this project will ultimately improve the lives of millions of people who receive bone implants and help to reduce the associated healthcare costs.
Currently in an effort to ensure quality, researchers make lots of plain cube test samples using various manufacturing settings and then compare properties before deciding what combination to use for the real implant. This trial and error approach takes a lot of time and may not even produce very predictable devices because the optimisation is not performed on shapes that are representative of real implants. In this project we will make various design features common to medical implants (e.g. curved surfaces, screw holes) and collect key performance data during and post manufacture. By using cutting edge mathematics, we will create a network that allows us to accurately predict which manufacturing settings will produce the best quality for any design shape. This tool will help businesses to standardise production of customised medical devices in a quick and accurate manner that is not dependent on the user's knowledge. Thereby we will open up the advantages of AM to more companies and help existing adopters to meet the standardisation requirements of the impending new Medical Device Regulations.
Overall this project aims to better understand the relationships between additive manufacturing settings and implant properties, which will help us to improve the quality of these anatomically personalised devices. Beyond this we plan to create a tool to enable the creation of implants that are not only customised to the size and shape of the patient's skeleton but also two critical functionalities: mechanical strength and cell adhesion. It is known that if an implant is too strong compared with the surrounding native bone this can cause it to fail. As such, developing a way to select manufacturing or design parameters that enable mechanical matching to the patient's skeleton will help implants to last longer and reduce the number of failures. Besides mechanical mismatch, the other biggest threat to bone implants is infection. Our preliminary work has shown that surface roughness directly impacts the ability of cells, mammalian and bacterial, to stick onto AM devices. In this project we will exploit this knowledge to enable users to select manufacturing settings that result in a defined surface roughness that either enables or prevents cell attachment. This novel capability could be used, for example to create implants with a surface that stops bacterial cells from sticking and thus minimises infection risks. There is also potential that this tool could help to improve bonding between the implant and native tissue by recommending manufacturing settings that result in surface topographies that encourage growth of bone forming osteoblast cells.
In summary, this project is focused on standardising the way we use 3D printing to ensure the properties of bespoke implants are predictable. This will be achieved by using mathematics to move the AM field away from trial and error. By understanding the relationships between manufacturing settings and key properties, we will create two tools that will enable us to make functionally personalised devices. The ability to predictively and selectively tailor mechanical properties and surface roughness will drive a new generation of implants that last longer and fail less often. Thereby, this project will ultimately improve the lives of millions of people who receive bone implants and help to reduce the associated healthcare costs.
Planned Impact
A multidisciplinary approach will be employed to improve the predictability of additive manufacturing (AM) enabling customised medical implants to be made in a more standardised way. The new knowledge gained from this approach will be exploited to move beyond current industrial capabilities and deliver the next generation of functionally tailored devices that better meet patient needs. Overall, this project will deliver several toolkits to standardise AM of bespoke medical devices while also driving innovations in customisation that will holistically impact all research stakeholders.
Patients: this research will ultimately be of most benefit to the millions of people who receive metal implants to replace damaged or diseased bones. The proposed multidisciplinary approach to standardise production of bespoke implants will enable manufacturers to rapidly adhere to the new Medical Device Regulations. This will ensure that more patients may benefit from the significant advantages of receiving an anatomically tailored implant. Development of mechanically and biologically customised implants will offer patients further benefits through reduced failure risks and prolonged device life-spans. This will improve the patient's quality of life and welfare while also reducing associated healthcare treatment costs.
Industrial: by reducing the reliance of AM on user expertise this project will open up use of these technologies to more companies whom will benefit from improved design freedoms and cost savings. Furthermore, improving the performance predictability of bespoke AM medical devices will offer valuable support to businesses who already use selective laser melting. Specifically, the outcomes of this project may serve as a best practise guideline to meet the new Medical Device Regulations, helping minimise associated costs and thus ensuring competitiveness of UK manufacturers within this growing market. Highlighting the extra value that may be gained in healthcare through the novel functionally tailored devices will also raise the profile of AM. This may increase demand for supply chain products, such as software, materials, and metrology equipment. Thereby, the disruptive nature of this project will lead to the growth of numerous interrelated industrial sectors.
Clinical: failure of implants has a potential to damage surgical reputation. As such, clinical stakeholders will indirectly benefit from the improved reproducibility and functionality of custom medical devices made in this project. This multidisciplinary proposal is also the ideal opportunity for healthcare professionals to learn more about future innovations. Regular engagement between the research team and key clinical opinion leaders will ensure the outcomes of this project are relevant to current practise and thus more likely to achieve the impacts described for all stakeholders. It is also anticipated that these partnerships will grow into other collaboration opportunities beyond the proposed project, which may focus on applying these developments within orthopaedics, craniomaxillofacial, trauma, and dental applications.
Educational beneficiaries: the application of mathematics in this proposal to solve cutting edge physical science challenges creates the perfect opportunity to inspire future generations into a range of STEM subjects. It also offers the research team great training opportunities creating a strong foundation from which to widely share this useful new knowledge. This learning will be passed on to numerous students through new teaching activities and to the public via workshops/events, which will also provide the team valuable feedback to help guide progress. Through working closely with world leading industrial and clinical partners there is also significant potential for this research to support alignment of academic standards with commercial practise, which will be integrated into the team's teaching activities to enhance student employability.
Patients: this research will ultimately be of most benefit to the millions of people who receive metal implants to replace damaged or diseased bones. The proposed multidisciplinary approach to standardise production of bespoke implants will enable manufacturers to rapidly adhere to the new Medical Device Regulations. This will ensure that more patients may benefit from the significant advantages of receiving an anatomically tailored implant. Development of mechanically and biologically customised implants will offer patients further benefits through reduced failure risks and prolonged device life-spans. This will improve the patient's quality of life and welfare while also reducing associated healthcare treatment costs.
Industrial: by reducing the reliance of AM on user expertise this project will open up use of these technologies to more companies whom will benefit from improved design freedoms and cost savings. Furthermore, improving the performance predictability of bespoke AM medical devices will offer valuable support to businesses who already use selective laser melting. Specifically, the outcomes of this project may serve as a best practise guideline to meet the new Medical Device Regulations, helping minimise associated costs and thus ensuring competitiveness of UK manufacturers within this growing market. Highlighting the extra value that may be gained in healthcare through the novel functionally tailored devices will also raise the profile of AM. This may increase demand for supply chain products, such as software, materials, and metrology equipment. Thereby, the disruptive nature of this project will lead to the growth of numerous interrelated industrial sectors.
Clinical: failure of implants has a potential to damage surgical reputation. As such, clinical stakeholders will indirectly benefit from the improved reproducibility and functionality of custom medical devices made in this project. This multidisciplinary proposal is also the ideal opportunity for healthcare professionals to learn more about future innovations. Regular engagement between the research team and key clinical opinion leaders will ensure the outcomes of this project are relevant to current practise and thus more likely to achieve the impacts described for all stakeholders. It is also anticipated that these partnerships will grow into other collaboration opportunities beyond the proposed project, which may focus on applying these developments within orthopaedics, craniomaxillofacial, trauma, and dental applications.
Educational beneficiaries: the application of mathematics in this proposal to solve cutting edge physical science challenges creates the perfect opportunity to inspire future generations into a range of STEM subjects. It also offers the research team great training opportunities creating a strong foundation from which to widely share this useful new knowledge. This learning will be passed on to numerous students through new teaching activities and to the public via workshops/events, which will also provide the team valuable feedback to help guide progress. Through working closely with world leading industrial and clinical partners there is also significant potential for this research to support alignment of academic standards with commercial practise, which will be integrated into the team's teaching activities to enhance student employability.
Publications
Carter L
(2022)
Exploring the duality of powder adhesion and underlying surface roughness in laser powder bed fusion processed Ti-6Al-4V
in Journal of Manufacturing Processes
Hall TJ
(2020)
A call for action to the biomaterial community to tackle antimicrobial resistance.
in Biomaterials science
Villapun Puzas VM
(2022)
Surface Free Energy Dominates the Biological Interactions of Postprocessed Additively Manufactured Ti-6Al-4V.
in ACS biomaterials science & engineering
VillapĂșn V
(2023)
Laser texturing of additively manufactured implants: A tool to programme biological response
in Biomaterials Advances
VillapĂșn VM
(2022)
Stakeholder Perspectives on the Current and Future of Additive Manufacturing in Healthcare.
in International journal of bioprinting
Description | The most significant achievement from this award is a new understanding of how metal 3d printing processes work. By studying the behaviour of the laser within metal 3d printers we have identified new approaches to producing parts of a better quality. We have also sought to understand different disciplinary perspectives on the current status of additive manufacturing for healthcare applications. This involved surveying different businesses, academics and clinicians to produce a series of recommendations that may help to move the field forward in a more cohesive / collaborative manner. |
Exploitation Route | Others may use our findings to produce better quality parts from their metal 3d printing processes Our industrial collaborators are interested in applying our findings to improve their in-situ process monitoring capabilities The field generally may use the new understanding we developed from our survey to move forward in a more cohesive manner and to enhance collaborative activities across different sectors interested in exploiting additive manufacturing for healthcare |
Sectors | Healthcare Manufacturing including Industrial Biotechology |
Description | Application to the development of customised facemasks for personal protective equipment used by medical professions against COVID Application to software development at Renishaw PLC |
First Year Of Impact | 2021 |
Sector | Healthcare,Manufacturing, including Industrial Biotechology |
Impact Types | Societal Economic |
Title | Image analysis methodology to quantify the extent and particle size of surface adhered metal power on additively manufactured material |
Description | Traditional image analysis techniques struggle to differentiate between particles adhered to the additively manufactured (AM) surface due to the extent of particle overlapping and regions of tight packing. This method allow for rapid quantification of the particle adhesion and the associate particle size distribution from basic optical micrographs. |
Type Of Material | Improvements to research infrastructure |
Year Produced | 2021 |
Provided To Others? | No |
Impact | This tool has allowed for more appropriate characterisation of the unique AM surface compared with traditional analysis techniques. Details are included in a publication that is currently under review. |
Title | Image analysis technique to quantify the underlying surface roughness of the additively manufactured surface |
Description | Surface roughness of additively manufactured (AM) metal provides a unique challenge to traditional line of sight techniques as surface adhered powder obscures the underlying surface. In order to study and characterise this underlying roughness an image analysis tool was developed to identify and remove surface adhered particles from cross-section SEM micrographs and calculate the underlying surface roughness of a material. |
Type Of Material | Improvements to research infrastructure |
Year Produced | 2021 |
Provided To Others? | No |
Impact | This technique will allow more appropriate study of the AM surface that is currently limited by traditional measurements. Details are due to be published in a paper currently under review. |
Title | CNN Driven Model for the prediction of Metal AM Processing Monitoring Output |
Description | Based on fundamental heat transfer relationships, a computational neural network (CNN) model has been derive the equation constants. This model has been trained using metal additive manufacturing process monitoring data. The process monitoring system measures the thermal emissions from the laser induced molten pool during metal additive manufacturing process and provides signal values that relate to combine melt pool temperature, shape, and size. By predicting this response prior to process could enable local material tailoring and control, improved QA on production parts, and development of methods for material homogenisation during processing. |
Type Of Material | Computer model/algorithm |
Year Produced | 2023 |
Provided To Others? | No |
Impact | Currently developing a KTP project with Renishaw PLC which utilises this model as a starting technology. |
Title | Heuristically Derived AM Processes Monitoring Predictive Tool |
Description | This predictive tool has been developed using an heuristic approach to determine the input variables for a rapid predictive algorithm. This approach was applied iteratively using a comparison between the predicted and sample experimental datasets with the aim of minimising the standard error of estimate. Once established, the tool can run very rapidly predicting the additive manufacturing process monitoring response (a measure of emitted IR radiation from the laser powder-bed fusion process) for simple geometries. The aim is that this may be further developed to provide localised process control, QA of processed components, and ensure homogeneity of processed material. |
Type Of Material | Computer model/algorithm |
Year Produced | 2023 |
Provided To Others? | No |
Impact | This model has formed the basis of a further KTP proposal with Renishaw PLC |
Description | Collaboration with I-Form Advanced Manufacturing Research Center |
Organisation | University College Dublin |
Country | Ireland |
Sector | Academic/University |
PI Contribution | During the early stages of the invisible project it become clearer that large datasets would be required to develop and train a neural network capable of achieving the requirements stated in the proposal. Our group used data collected by Dr Darragh Egan to analyse early NN designs and training which coupled with our in house data revealed the need to use different strategies to fulfil the end purpose of Invisible Customisation. |
Collaborator Contribution | The I-Form Advanced Manufacturing Research Center located in the University College Dublin provided a series of datasets previously collected with their monitoring systems to peruse by the UoB. |
Impact | The main outcome of this collaboration has resulted in increased know how from the group on the limits of neural network's ability to process data from monitoring systems, resulting in the need to consider complementary strategies and more fundamental analysis of machine parameters to support their design. |
Start Year | 2020 |
Description | Collaboration with Renishaw |
Organisation | Renishaw PLC |
Country | United Kingdom |
Sector | Private |
PI Contribution | In this collaboration our group has developed expertise on the use of monitoring systems and the processing of their outputs for both fundamental and neural network research. Highly specialised know how was obtained and used to study the role of different inputs (e.g. power, speed, scan strategy, geometry, etc) on the response of the monitoring system and physicochemical properties of additively manufactured parts. Further discussions between collaborators led to a shared application for shared projects. |
Collaborator Contribution | Renishaw provided installation and training on the new S500 system fully supporting the early stages of the analysis. Similarly they have provided insights on the current and future perspectives of AM in healthcare, supporting an analysis of different stakeholders to guide the development of novel systems. Further discussions between collaborators led to a shared application for shared projects. |
Impact | The main outputs at this moment include: -Installation of the new AM system -Training on both hardware and software -Datasets of differently processed AM parts -Optimisation of AM paths through mathematical modelling -Knowledge Transfer Partnership prepared to map the monitoring system response -PhD post to study the influence of surface modification on AM outcomes |
Start Year | 2020 |
Description | Collaboration with researchers at University of Huddersfield regarding development of computational methods |
Organisation | University of Huddersfield |
Country | United Kingdom |
Sector | Academic/University |
PI Contribution | Provided, background, goal, and datasets and a specific request for insight in to the feasibility of using numerical or AI methods to map broad additive manufacturing process inputs to measured process response. |
Collaborator Contribution | Several meeting proving feeedback suggestions and ongoing support to facilitate this research |
Impact | N/A |
Start Year | 2021 |
Description | "LM Additive manufacturing and 3D printing for healthcare applications" module |
Form Of Engagement Activity | A talk or presentation |
Part Of Official Scheme? | No |
Geographic Reach | Regional |
Primary Audience | Undergraduate students |
Results and Impact | The presented module introduced key technical aspects related to the use of additive manufacturing or 3D printing technologies within the field of healthcare through industrial case studies and demonstrations of existing custom devices. From understanding specific design considerations for additive manufacturing technologies to the fundamental principles of these technologies, we have provided undergraduates a forum to fully understand the disruption that AM is bringing to society and, more specifically, to healthcare. |
Year(s) Of Engagement Activity | 2021,2022 |
Description | Attendance at 'Midlands Health and Life Sciences Symposium' - November 2021 |
Form Of Engagement Activity | Participation in an activity, workshop or similar |
Part Of Official Scheme? | No |
Geographic Reach | Regional |
Primary Audience | Industry/Business |
Results and Impact | Attended the Midlands health and life sciences symposium with the following purposes: - Through discussion with regional healthcare professionals, raise the visibility of the research being performed within the team - Through the various sessions, gain an understanding of the specific healthcare challenges facing the midlands along with understand the opportunities to engage with these fields |
Year(s) Of Engagement Activity | 2021 |
URL | https://www.medilinkem.com/event/midlands-health-and-life-science-symposium/ |
Description | Birmingham Discovery Exchange with the Multi-Scale Additive Manufacturing Laboratory in the University of Waterloo |
Form Of Engagement Activity | A formal working group, expert panel or dialogue |
Part Of Official Scheme? | No |
Geographic Reach | International |
Primary Audience | Industry/Business |
Results and Impact | During this engagement the Centre for Custom Medical Devices and the Multi-Scale Additive Manufacturing Laboratory exchanged information on their capabilities, interests and future directions of their research to found areas for future collaboration and funding applications. |
Year(s) Of Engagement Activity | 2021 |
Description | Collaborative seminar with clinical specialist |
Form Of Engagement Activity | A talk or presentation |
Part Of Official Scheme? | No |
Geographic Reach | Local |
Primary Audience | Professional Practitioners |
Results and Impact | Seminar with visiting clinical dentistry to discuss opportunities to exploit additive manufacturing. Attended by research group members and other academic colleagues involved in hosting the visitor. |
Year(s) Of Engagement Activity | 2022 |
Description | Delivery of interactive workshop to school children attending 'girls can' outreach event at the university of birmingham |
Form Of Engagement Activity | Participation in an activity, workshop or similar |
Part Of Official Scheme? | No |
Geographic Reach | Local |
Primary Audience | Schools |
Results and Impact | Interactive workshop designed and delivered to approximately 90 school children (all girls) attending an outreach event at the University of Birmingham. The workshop was focused on improving their understanding of research concerning medical device development, specifically customised implants via 3D printing and novel adhesives for stoma devices. |
Year(s) Of Engagement Activity | 2023 |
Description | Dissemination of collaborative activity focused on using AI to improve the design of customised implants |
Form Of Engagement Activity | A magazine, newsletter or online publication |
Part Of Official Scheme? | No |
Geographic Reach | International |
Primary Audience | Professional Practitioners |
Results and Impact | Online article in Orthopaedic Product News focused on collaborative work with an SME that are innovating an AI platform to facilitate faster and more accurate design of customised implants. |
Year(s) Of Engagement Activity | 2023 |
URL | https://www.opnews.com/2023/02/customised-knee-implants-within-hours-thanks-to-ai/17832 |
Description | Engagement with visiting academics from Germany BAM institute |
Form Of Engagement Activity | A formal working group, expert panel or dialogue |
Part Of Official Scheme? | No |
Geographic Reach | International |
Primary Audience | Professional Practitioners |
Results and Impact | Dr Cox gave a presentation concerning her team's research to visiting academics and technical specialists from the BAM Institute. This has led to follow on collaborative discussion concerning the use of BAM equipment and an application to use the European Synchrotron (ESRF) as well as the possibility for one of Dr Cox's PhD student to visit BAM. |
Year(s) Of Engagement Activity | 2022 |
URL | https://www.bam.de/Navigation/EN/Home/home.html |
Description | Enhancing Functionality, Control, and Materials of Additively Manufactured Medical Implants - Healthcare Technologies Institute Winter Symposium |
Form Of Engagement Activity | A talk or presentation |
Part Of Official Scheme? | No |
Geographic Reach | Regional |
Primary Audience | Postgraduate students |
Results and Impact | Presentation in the Healthcare Technologies Institute Winter Symposium delivered key research outcomes and vision for our metal additive manufacturing activities to a broad audience, both within the institute (including academics and clinicians) and regional researchers in the medical field. Provided a good opportunity to educate and inspire audience members from a broader biological setting on the value that we are exploring with metal additive manufacturing for medical devices and how this technique can be used to enhance the functionality of future innovations. |
Year(s) Of Engagement Activity | 2022 |
Description | External visit from the university Carlos III of Madrid to the CMD |
Form Of Engagement Activity | A talk or presentation |
Part Of Official Scheme? | No |
Geographic Reach | International |
Primary Audience | Professional Practitioners |
Results and Impact | During this visit Dr Alba Gonzalez Alvarez from the University Carlos III in Madrid showcased her work on the development of patient-specific implants for bone reconstruction with the use of 3d printing technologies for maxillofacial and thoracic surgery. This was followed by a visit through the CMD installations and a discussion on areas of collaboration and future funding opportunities. |
Year(s) Of Engagement Activity | 2022 |
Description | Host invited speaker from industry |
Form Of Engagement Activity | A talk or presentation |
Part Of Official Scheme? | No |
Geographic Reach | Local |
Primary Audience | Postgraduate students |
Results and Impact | Hosted three external speakers to discuss aspects relating to additive manufacturing in medicine. Speakers were from the MTC and a clinical reconstructive scientist from Bristol NHS Trust |
Year(s) Of Engagement Activity | 2022 |
Description | Hosted Dr Paul Hooper from Imperial College London |
Form Of Engagement Activity | Participation in an activity, workshop or similar |
Part Of Official Scheme? | No |
Geographic Reach | National |
Primary Audience | Professional Practitioners |
Results and Impact | Dr Cox hosted Dr Paul Hooper from Imperial College London who gave a guest talk for the team and institute along with detailed discussion concerning possible academic collaborations. |
Year(s) Of Engagement Activity | 2022 |
Description | Hosting 4 students for In2Science placement |
Form Of Engagement Activity | Participation in an activity, workshop or similar |
Part Of Official Scheme? | No |
Geographic Reach | National |
Primary Audience | Schools |
Results and Impact | Dr Cox's team hosted 4 A-level students for a week from 1/8-5/8/2022. The placement involved introducing the young people (who were from underprivileged backgrounds) to healthcare technology research along with supporting conversations about career progression. |
Year(s) Of Engagement Activity | 2022 |
URL | https://in2scienceuk.org/ |
Description | Invited talk Herriot Watt |
Form Of Engagement Activity | A talk or presentation |
Part Of Official Scheme? | No |
Geographic Reach | National |
Primary Audience | Professional Practitioners |
Results and Impact | Dr Cox gave an invited talk to the Institute of Biological Chemistry, Biophysics and Bioengineering at Heriott Watt University concerning her research in additive manufacturing |
Year(s) Of Engagement Activity | 2022 |
Description | Invited talk University of Sheffield |
Form Of Engagement Activity | A talk or presentation |
Part Of Official Scheme? | No |
Geographic Reach | National |
Primary Audience | Professional Practitioners |
Results and Impact | Invited talk as part of the EPSRC Future Manufacturing Hub MAPP hosted by Professor Iain Todd at the University of Sheffield. Researchers from the additive manufacturing community attended both in person and online reaching approximately 50 individuals. |
Year(s) Of Engagement Activity | 2022 |
Description | Invited talk at Royal National Orthopaedic Hospital (Stanmore) |
Form Of Engagement Activity | A talk or presentation |
Part Of Official Scheme? | No |
Geographic Reach | National |
Primary Audience | Professional Practitioners |
Results and Impact | Visit to the Royal National Orthopaedic Hospital to share expertise in the additive manufacture of customised implants. Dr Cox gave a presentation to leading clinical experts and academic specialists in analysis of retrieved implants. Along with this we discussed synergistic activities and are in the process of formalising a collaboration agree such that we may move forward these discussions. |
Year(s) Of Engagement Activity | 2022 |
Description | Invited talk at the Materials Research Exchange conference hosted by Henry Royce Institute (London) |
Form Of Engagement Activity | A talk or presentation |
Part Of Official Scheme? | No |
Geographic Reach | National |
Primary Audience | Professional Practitioners |
Results and Impact | Dr Sophie gave an invited talk at the Henry Royce symposium held during the Materials Research Exchange conference in London, which was attended in person by 100+ individuals. |
Year(s) Of Engagement Activity | 2022 |
URL | https://www.royce.ac.uk/events/materials-research-exchange-2022/ |
Description | Invited talk university of nottingham |
Form Of Engagement Activity | A talk or presentation |
Part Of Official Scheme? | No |
Geographic Reach | National |
Primary Audience | Other audiences |
Results and Impact | Talk at the Nottingham polymer symposium |
Year(s) Of Engagement Activity | 2022 |
Description | Keynote talk at UK Society of Biomaterials Conference (Sheffield) |
Form Of Engagement Activity | A talk or presentation |
Part Of Official Scheme? | No |
Geographic Reach | National |
Primary Audience | Professional Practitioners |
Results and Impact | Dr Cox gave a keynote talk concerning her additive manufacturing research at the UK Society for Biomaterials annual conference in Sheffield. The talk led to several follow on conversations with academic colleagues. |
Year(s) Of Engagement Activity | 2022 |
URL | https://www.uksb.org.uk/uksb2022/ |
Description | Metal Additive Manufacturing Processes - LM Additive manufacturing and 3D printing for healthcare applications Module |
Form Of Engagement Activity | A talk or presentation |
Part Of Official Scheme? | No |
Geographic Reach | Local |
Primary Audience | Undergraduate students |
Results and Impact | Metal Additive Manufacturing Processes talk was delivered as part of the ' LM Additive manufacturing and 3D printing for healthcare applications' Module. The activity set out to broaden the understanding of the family of processes under the umbrella term 'Metal Additive Manufacturing'. Case studies from research were used to fill out that understanding and illustrate how this field can add value to the future of medical devices. Critically this activity aimed to engage and inform future engineers on these emerging techniques. |
Year(s) Of Engagement Activity | 2022 |
Description | Panelist at the TCT 3Sixty additive manufacturing conference - panel discussion focused on standardisation of additive manufacturing for healthcare |
Form Of Engagement Activity | A formal working group, expert panel or dialogue |
Part Of Official Scheme? | No |
Geographic Reach | International |
Primary Audience | Professional Practitioners |
Results and Impact | Dr Cox was a expert panel member discussing standardisation of implant produced via additive manufacturing. The panel incorporated perspectives from academic, industrial and clinical stakeholders and was held at the TCT 3Sixty event that attracts numerous businesses and academics focused on additive manufacturing technologies. |
Year(s) Of Engagement Activity | 2021 |
Description | Poster presentation in UKSB2022 |
Form Of Engagement Activity | A formal working group, expert panel or dialogue |
Part Of Official Scheme? | No |
Geographic Reach | International |
Primary Audience | Other audiences |
Results and Impact | In the UKSB2022, we presented our early work to develop a better model to test infection and antimicrobial resistance development of implantable devices through a bioreactor. In this work, we presented the first data on vancomycin resistance development in static conditions that will be used to contrast the ongoing work in the bioreactor. |
Year(s) Of Engagement Activity | 2022 |
Description | Presentation to colleagues concerning research group activities (University of Birmingham) |
Form Of Engagement Activity | A talk or presentation |
Part Of Official Scheme? | No |
Geographic Reach | Local |
Primary Audience | Professional Practitioners |
Results and Impact | Invited talk to share research activities with academic and professional service colleagues across the Engineering and Physical Science college at the University of Birmingham. Approximately 50 people attended the talk in person and further engagement online. |
Year(s) Of Engagement Activity | 2022 |
Description | School visit talk |
Form Of Engagement Activity | A talk or presentation |
Part Of Official Scheme? | No |
Geographic Reach | Regional |
Primary Audience | Schools |
Results and Impact | Dr Cox gave a careers talk to female student attending the University of Birmingham 'Forge your future' outreach event. The talk was attended by approximately 100 pupils |
Year(s) Of Engagement Activity | 2022 |
Description | Survey to analyse differences in strategic positioning from all additive manufacturing healthcare stakeholders |
Form Of Engagement Activity | Engagement focused website, blog or social media channel |
Part Of Official Scheme? | No |
Geographic Reach | International |
Primary Audience | Professional Practitioners |
Results and Impact | Additive manufacturing (AM) technologies have disrupted many supply chains by making new designs and functionalities possible. The opportunity to realise complex customised structures has led to significant interest within healthcare, however, full utilisation critically requires the alignment of the whole supply chain. To offer insights into this process, a survey was conducted to understand the views of different medical AM stakeholders (i.e. academics, designers, manufacturers and medical experts). |
Year(s) Of Engagement Activity | 2021 |