Middle East Technical University (ODTÜ) has out-licensed a patient-specific prosthetic technology that substitutes bone tissues lost or damaged due to trauma.
Developed by ODTÜ professor Vasif Hasirci, the 3D-printed prostheses are designed to erode into the bone over time, lowering the risk of infection or prosthesis rejection. The technology can be applied to patients injured by traffic accidents, gunshots, tumors and physical diseases such as osteoporosis.
Hasirci obtained a patent for his invention with the help of ODTÜ TTO, the university’s tech transfer office, which has licensed it out to 3D printing company BTech Innovation.
“3D printing technology has been developed for use in different industrial sectors and finally is being used in the field of health,” says Hasirci. “Although the developments in device production have reached a certain degree of saturation, there is still a niche for the production of new biocompatible materials that can be used as implants, which is an important area of development. These are materials that do not have any negative effects on the body and can be transformed into natural tissues in time.”
Kuntay Aktas, general manager at BTech Innovation, comments, “We are very pleased to make such an agreement in this field where significant developments in the world are almost inevitable. We think that the emergence of high-tech products in Turkey is very important, and we are very excited to have the opportunity to work with the most important scientists and teams. In the future, we will work harder to transform this technology into a commercially viable product.”
Source: BTECH
