The University of Birmingham has installed two Renishaw RenAM 500M (www.renishaw.com) metal additive-manufacturing (AM) systems to help its new centre for custom medical devices explore the potential of AM for medical applications.

The university currently has several projects looking for new medical devices and technologies to assist recovery after disease or injury.

One project is looking at cranioplasty, which is a common procedure with a high infection rate. The university is working with Didcot-based Accentus Medical, looking at applying technology to the surface of customised metal AM
cranial plates to reduce the chance of infections and improve patients’ quality of life.

Sophie Cox, Lecturer in Healthcare Technologies at the University of Birmingham (www.birmingham.ac.uk), said: “Additive manufacturing increases the design freedom for medical devices. Using this technology, we have flexibility in implant geometry and material choice.

"The installation of the RenAM 500M systems will create a new centre for custom medical devices at the University of Birmingham.”