JRI Orthopaedics to offer 3D printed implants through pioneering partnership

11th February 2016

Patients across the country are set to benefit from a pioneering partnership between Sheffield healthcare company JRI Orthopaedics and one of the world's largest providers of 3D printing services.

Under the collaboration, JRI Orthopaedics will supply patient specific, 3D printed hip and shoulder implants for cases involving highly challenging bone and joint reconstruction surgery. The multi-award winning company has teamed up with Mobelife, a Materialise Company to offer its innovative aMace Acetabular Revision System and Glenius Shoulder Glenoid Revision Component to orthopaedic surgeons throughout the UK. These systems are usually used where failure of an implant used in an earlier joint replacement procedure has resulted in significant bone loss which cannot be reconstructed with a standard, off-the-shelf implant. A CT scan of the patient's pelvis or shoulder is used by Belgium-based Mobelife to create a virtual model of their anatomy and a computer generated plan for a personalized implant, which is checked with the surgeon before being 3D printed. -The application of 3D printing technology is one of the most exciting developments in world orthopaedics, said Michael Colling-Tuck, Hip Product Manager at JRI Orthopaedics. -We have expanded from off-the-shelf implants to customized solutions manufactured for a specific patient's bone anatomy. -This enables us to help patients with bone defects in the hip and shoulder which might, in the past, have been impossible to reconstruct. -JRI was founded on innovation. We were the first company in world orthopedics to produce a hip implant with a Hydroxyapatite coating enabling a biological bond between the patient's bone and the implant, providing for a long-term secure fixation. -We are always striving to develop and embrace new technology and approaches which will improve outcomes for patients requiring joint replacement surgery, to give them a better quality of life for longer. -So we are delighted that this partnership allows us to be at the forefront of the medical application of 3D printing. JRI Orthopaedics, which employs 115 people at its state-of-the-art manufacturing facility in Chapeltown, has world-class expertise in the design, development and manufacture of orthopaedic implants and surgical instruments.