As one of the first batch of teams of the "Minshan Action" plan in Chengdu Hi-tech Industrial Development Zone, West China Institute of Medical Robotics in FMC Chengdu has successfully developed an intelligent 3D medical high-speed printing system (3D-HSP). Recently, the system has been put into clinical application in 15 provinces (autonomous regions and municipalities).

       Intelligent 3D Medical High-speed Printing System

       The external fixation brace printed by the intelligent 3D medical high-speed printing system is mainly used for trauma emergency treatment and postoperative external fixation of limb joints and the spine, such as wrist joints, elbow joints, and knee joints. It is commonly applied in trauma emergency treatment, orthopedics, pediatrics, rehabilitation, and other scenarios.

       Considering the underlying defects of traditional technologies, the research team has developed the world's first high-speed intelligent 3D printing technology without a support frame for medical condensation and solidification, which can replace traditional plaster fixation after fractures and realize the precise and high-speed printing of external fixation braces. When a patient is injured, the fixation brace can be accurately printed in about 30 minutes after 1-2 minutes of real-time scanning and background data transmission to the printer. It can meet the clinical application requirement that medical trauma emergency treatment should be completed within two hours.

       According to the product's relevant responsible persons, the intelligent 3D medical high-speed printing system has achieved several core technological breakthroughs. It can realize rapid solidification during the process of 3D printing, and its efficiency is 20 times higher than that of traditional 3D printing technology. In the future, the team will continue to upgrade the system, which is expected to print more complex curved surfaces such as shoulder joints and help doctors quickly and efficiently treat patients.

       The underlying printing technology is the world's first printing technology without a support frame for condensation and solidification. This printing technology, combined with a control system that uses artificial intelligence to drive print trajectories, has reduced the time it takes to print a brace from 5-7 hours to 15-20 minutes. This new product may replace about 60% to 70% of traditional products.

                                                         - Wu Wentao, the project leader of 3D printing at West China Institute of Medical Robotics

       West China Institute of Medical Robotics, which has successfully developed the intelligent 3D medical high-speed printing system (3D-HSP), is one of the first batch of new-type comprehensive R&D institutions in western China integrating "industry, education, and research" with industrial incubation as the core. It mainly carries out innovation and R&D in the field of medical robotics. Based on the new development model of "medicine-industry-production-education integration", it only takes half a year to one and a half years for the institute's projects to go through the process from clinical needs to implementation.

       West China Institute of Medical Robotics is one of the first batch of teams of the "Minshan Action" plan. Since its establishment in March 2022, with the support from the Chengdu Hi-tech Industrial Development Zone and West China Hospital of Sichuan University, it has leveraged resources from the "National Facility for Translational Medicine" state-level scientific research platform and the West China Biomedical Big Data Center. The institute has overcome technological bottlenecks in medical robotics, including registration and spatial mapping, image processing, and human-machine interaction. It has formed an interdisciplinary, cross-institutional, and cross-border collaborative innovation system, effectively filling the gaps in domestic robotic products for thoracentesis, joint surgery, spine surgery, rehabilitation, and radiology. The institute's key technologies can keep abreast of international first-class technologies.

       In recent years, the Chengdu Hi-tech Industrial Development Zone has successively issued nine relevant policies to facilitate the high-quality development of the healthcare industry. The Development Policy on Building Industrial Ecosystems and Strengthening Key Industrial Chains in the Healthcare Industry issued in 2022 could support the high-quality development of the biological industry in 10 aspects, such as the implementation of major projects, the transformation of innovative achievements, and the cultivation of blockbuster varieties. Since the issuance of this policy, 181 projects from 58 enterprises have been supported and more than RMB 200 million of policy-related funds have been paid to promote the vigorous development of the healthcare industry in the Chengdu Hi-tech Industrial Development Zone.

       It strives to enable the healthcare industry in the Chengdu Hi-tech Industrial Development Zone to achieve a scale of more than RMB 250 billion and gather more than 5,000 enterprises by 2025. It tries to establish an important growth pole for the biomedical industry in the Chengdu-Chongqing economic circle, a crucial origin of innovation in China's biomedical industry, and a globally influential and competitive biomedical industry cluster.

                                          - The responsible person of the Bioindustry Bureau of Chengdu Hi-tech Industrial Development Zone