Sometimes Work Is Pretty Rewarding

I'm back at work now, after already working a nine hour day and after spending two hours at the gym.
I'm wrecked.

I left the gym and when I got to my car I saw a message from my boss. He wanted to know if I could come in and run a 3D print.

I just worked a nine hour shift and am currently on my way home from the gym. Can it wait until tomorrow if I come in early?

Not really. Keith would like it in his hand by noon to take with him to a case tomorrow.

OK. I guess I could come back. Vy is off somewhere with my kids. What is it?

It's a 3D model of a patient's complex aortic aneurysm. The patient is in a coma and will have one or multiple of our stent grafts inserted tomorrow night. The procedure is realistically going to help her or it's going to kill her so the doctor would like to practice a bit with different graft configuration options by placing stent grafts into this replica of the patient's aorta prior to the actual procedure. Keith is hopping on a plane tomorrow to hand deliver the part to the doctor.

Fuck yeah, I'll be in. Let me take a shower and I'll be right there.....

Dude, that's sounds pretty amazing. Looking forward to hear a positive outcome.

Wow, that's some serious business...

That's awesome, Dustin. 

That's cool Dustin. I didn't know 3D-printing has achieved high enough quality for such critical implant.

Fun stuff Dustin, Biomedical Industry is so cool. I was in it for 19 years and had a blast. Hopefully the New AAA device you're doing works well. I did Pacemakers and stents as well as drug delivery stuff and automation. Loved it till all my ailments got the best of me and I had to retire.

How long is that going to take on the 3D?

I m  at the Med show in Manhattan this week pitching my company to the east coast med customers.

Thanks, all!

That's cool Dustin. I didn't know 3D-printing has achieved high enough quality for such critical implant.

Ernest - I work for Medtronic in the Cardiovascular division. Here we make stent grafts to treat Aortic Aneurysms. The part I am printing is a reproduction of this patient's aorta. The doctor performing the implant will use the print to practice placing our stent grafts in and to see how to optimally orient the stent graft before deploying it through a catheter. This way the doctor can get in a "practice run" or two before even gowning up.

I've done a few of these in the past, but never one that was so urgently needed. I like it because it brings a lot of attention to our additive manufacturing capabilities, which used to be just two Form2 desktop SLA printers. Because of projects like this and because I started hounding my upper management about how much we spend on models I still have to outsource, we are getting a production sized SLA printer in July (3D Systems Projet 7000).

There are some biomedical materials for use in "3D printing", but I'm not sure if any of them have been approved for implants other than dental.

How long is that going to take on the 3D?

Alex - it took me maybe half-an-hour to set-up the print in the software (build orientation/support settings) and just over six hours to print. I just came in for two hours last night to set up the printer, set up the print, and stuck around for awhile to make sure everything started OK. This morning I'm going to remove the print from the build platform, remove the support structures, clean the part in IPA, hit it with a bit of UV light to properly cure it, sand off any remaining support nubs, then hit it with a few coats of clear coat.

The entire process was - patient had CT scan early yesterday morning, Dr. notified my buddy Keith of the issue and sends him CT scans, Keith sends CT scans to my buddy Lawrence who cleans them up in either Solidworks or 3Matic (which took him most of yesterday) and saves as an .stl file, Lawrence E-mails me the .stl file and I print the part.

Fun stuff Dustin, Biomedical Industry is so cool. I was in it for 19 years and had a blast. Hopefully the New AAA device you're doing works well. I did Pacemakers and stents as well as drug delivery stuff and automation. Loved it till all my ailments got the best of me and I had to retire.

Right on. What company?

I m  at the Med show in Manhattan this week pitching my company to the east coast med customers.

Sweet! Good luck!

That is awesome!

Pretty cool

Kudos to you Dustin!  That's awesome!

clean the part in IPA

Used for more than just drinking!      

that's my BOYEE!!  saving lives at work and hookin fish on the weekends (and being Dad too  )