The future is near: “Start-Up SPbU” creates 3D-printing for medical implants

The students are developing 3d printing in medicine and medical research, scaffolds (materials engineered to cause desirable cellular interactions to contribute to the formation of new functional tissues) and endodontic implants (materials “seeded” into the body). The team uses antibacterial materials to lessen the risk of infections after surgery to make implants more successful.

“Today we have worked models of printing devices and apart from polymers we are trying to adapt new materials. We have FDM-printing which works on an "additive" principle by laying down material in layers, SLA, i.e. stereolithography that produces parts in a layer by layer fashion using photopolymerization to form polymers and those polymers then make up the body of a three-dimensional solid. Now we are working on selective laser sintering (SLS), and we have already prepared an antibacterial polymer”, — said Sergei Rzhevskii, captain of the team “MedPrints”.

The team “MedPrints” is 5 SPbU students: Sergei Rzhevskii (a student in Chemistry, Physics and Materials Mechanics, captain and engineer of the printing devices) and Aleksei Kholtobin (a student in Biology, an engineer) are responsible for engineering. Anna Vasilieva abd Pavel Talianov (students in Chemistry, Physics and Materials Mechanics) are specialists in materials studies, and they produce and adapt polymers for printing. Vladislava Zakharova (a student in Management) is responsible for finance.

In May there will be a final stage of the “Start-Up SPbU” where 11 teams will present their projects and compete for 1,000,000 roubles. The team “MedPrints” is about to complete the construction of the last printing device (SLS), print biomaterials and test them.