Jaw implant from the 3D printer: The new Swiss m4m Center wants to bring additive manufacturing for medical technology to Swiss industry. (Credit: Marina Skoropadskaya, iStockphoto)

A new center for the transfer of new manufacturing technologies for medical applications to the medtech industry is being built in Bettlach, Switzerland. The center, called Swiss m4m Center is intended to serve the transfer of knowledge and technology.

"In order to successfully transfer new technologies to industry, the experience of industry on the one hand and new materials and findings from research on the other are necessary. The challenge is to bring both together. This is precisely what we want to achieve with the new center in an important sector for Switzerland, medical technology," explains Pierangelo Gröning, member of the Empa management and initiator of the Swiss m4m Center.

The new center will house facilities for manufacturing implants and other medical devices using the same manufacturing processes as industrial production. This should close the gap between research and industry. Both companies and research institutions can book and use the center’s infrastructure and services.

The center will be set up in the form of a public-private partnership and will be financed and operated by both public funds and private companies. It involves the cantons of Berne and Solothurn as well as numerous partners from research, hospitals, and the private sector. The latter include the Bettlach medtech company 41medical, on whose site the center is being built. The center is scheduled to go into operation at the end of 2019.

Source 

Topics:
3D Printing & Additive Manufacturing Implants & Prosthetics Implants & Prosthetics Medical

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