AN engineering graduate from Ulster University has secured £300,000 to expand his 3D medical printing company into Europe and the United States.
Daniel Crawford set up Axial 3D last year and makes orthopaedic models for the medical industry across the UK.
He has developed technology that uses patients' CT and MRI scans to make individual scaled 3D models of their injuries.
Surgeons use these patient-specific models to practice and plan procedures and thus save time in the operating theatre.
The funding has been offered by the university’s technology and knowledge transfer company, Innovation Ulster in association with TechStart NI and a number of private angel investors from the Halo network run by the Northern Ireland Science Park
It will be used to expand Axial 3D’s customer base in the private and public healthcare sectors outside Britain and Ireland, initially focusing on Scandinavia and Germany followed by the United States.
Mr Crawford said: “Having developed the service only one year ago, Axial 3D has gone from strength to strength. My biomedical engineering degree and previous experience working for an Ulster University spin-out specialising in medical technology, has given me a great understanding of what it takes to bring a medical product from research lab to market.
“With healthcare budgets under increasing pressure, Axial 3D can help surgeons to minimise time spent in surgery. This can decrease the risk of complications and reduce the time a patient spends in hospital, saving healthcare providers up to £5000 on postoperative care for each patient.
“This substantial investment will help develop my export expansion strategy for Axial 3D, providing the start-up with the necessary capital to expand its customer base outside the UK and Ireland, and to diversify services into other areas of medicine.”
Mr Jim Ballard, consultant orthopaedic surgeon at the Royal Belfast Hospital for Sick Children said: “There are significant benefits of having a scale model of a patients’ injury. It provides a much better insight into how to treat patients as well as allowing us to prepare the equipment before going into surgery, greatly improving the efficacy and reducing the risk of complications.”
