AI, three-dimensional printing, and biomaterials to repair and reconstruct the human body sound like science fiction, but that’s the bread and butter of Restor3d, a medical device startup founded in Durham, North Carolina, that just secured another $70 million in investment to advance its project. Development and commercialization of traditional orthopedic implants published in 3D.
The most recent investment, secured in June, includes $55 million in a Series A investment led by personal investors that added Summers Value Partners and existing investors, complemented by another $15 million in debt financing from Trinity Capital. This is the largest investment circular since the company was founded. in 2017.
Restor3d claims that its 3D-printed titanium and cobalt chrome alloy implants reconstruct and repair joints due to their unique shapes, made solely by 3D printing, which provide greater anatomical compatibility and integrate better with human bone.
Leveraging its expertise in 3D printing, Restor3d will expand its diversity of customized and patient-specific products with the latest investment.
“Approximately 90% of our implants are designed in 3D, especially for the patient,” says Jordan Wagner, vice president of marketing at Rastor3d. However, “commercially available offerings, such as the Kinos Total Ankle Replacement System, allow us to be scalable in conditions where a patient does not experience anything that is very significant to them – there are no cases of deformity or superior trauma. »
Last fall, Restor3d finalized its acquisition of Conformis, another manufacturer of orthopedic implants, 3D printing and patient-specific implants. This resolution expanded Restor3d’s implant diversity beyond the foot, ankle, and spine to the knee and shoulder.
“Previously, Conformis released their knees in a molding process,” says Wagner. “Now we manufacture them additively to reduce the cost of merchandise, which allows us to have a higher margin and reduce prices. “
To custom fit the implants, Restor3d developed a proprietary software platform called R3ID that used a patient scanner to design the implant.
“In the software we outline all the bones of this research and whether there is any hardware,” Wagner says. “Then we take a look at the preoperative anatomy as well as the other side of the body, the contralateral side, and we can use AI and our experience to say, about the contralateral aspect and the deformity, that this is the proposed advice for the design of implant published in 3D so that the patient returns to normal.
As more patient analytics are incorporated into the software, the platform learns and automates design more quickly.
“Think of it as a real brain that learns,” Wagner says. “We have developed software and artificial intelligence that continues to improve. We can then take the design, present it to our engineers at the user and say this is correct, send it to the surgeon for approval.
Once approved, the virtual design is sent to the steel 3D printer.
This new investment will allow the young Restor3d to face the festival in development from implants published in 3D.
Still, a smaller, more agile, born-digital company like Restor3d has the merit of relying on the latest advances in additive manufacturing, artificial intelligence and software progression from the beginning, Wagner says. “Some companies have ventured into patient-specific responses, however, they have not done so to enlarge the entire body, as we have done with our responses for the feet, knees, hips, shoulders and spine.
Some studies show that a patient-specific implant reduces surgical time, recovery time, length of hospital stay, as well as the chances of follow-up corrective surgery. Convincing healthcare professionals is not a challenge, but Restor3d plans to get the message across to patients. .
“This year, we have a patient ambassador program where we interview patients, either before or after surgery, to get a sense of that patient’s journey,” Wagner says. “We’re starting to get into direct-to-patient marketing. “
Surgeons and medical centers are interested in marketing traditional implants to differentiate their practice.
Restor3d uses Formlabs 3D printers to create patient-specific surgical guides and tools.
Restor3d uses a steel 3D printing technology called powder bed laser fusion, also known as selective laser fusion. It has machines from 3-d Systems and EOS that use lasers to insinuate and fuse a thin layer of the implant onto a bed of powder. The bed is lowered, a new layer of steel powder is spread, and lasers indicate the next small layer that has melted until the component is complete.
The company is also partnering with Massachusetts-based 3D printer manufacturer Formlabs to print proprietary polymers for radiopaque surgical instruments.
Restor3d expects a total of about $80 million this year, up from $20 million last year, before the Conformis acquisition.
As for long-term growth, Wagner says Raster3d is aggressively getting into the surgical robot arena. The company’s existing offerings are not compatible with surgical robotics. In the short term, the new investment will be spent on more 3D printers and post-processing capabilities, as well as in-house sterilization.
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