The Québec Industrial Research Center (CRIQ) and the CHU Québec-Université Laval network of hospitals has launched a project to open a $2.874 million (USD) medical 3D printing center in Québec City.
François Blais, Minister of the Capitale-Nationale region, made the announcement on behalf of Québec’s Minister of Economy, Science and Innovation Dominique Anglade, adding that the government would be providing approximately $2.299 million (USD) of the total cost.
Services for patient-specific artificial limbs and tissues
Integrated into all hospitals within the region, the forthcoming medical center will provide point-of-care 3D printing services for customized prosthesis. It will also conduct research in the field of regenerative medicine, using 3D bioprinting as a means of making transplantable human tissues.
Some of the latest medical research to be released from CHU Québec-Université Laval includes studies into 3D ultrasound planning for the treatment of cervical cancers, and a similar technique supported by 3D printing for personalized breast cancer therapy.
CRIQ on the other hand has the dedicated 3D printing innovation program Réseau Québec-3D, a partner of the national additive manufacturing accelerator Canada Makes. The center also provides dedicated metal 3D printing services to manufacturers in Québec using EOS M290 equipment.
Demo of metal 3D printing inside an EOS M290 system. Clip via Additiverse on YouTube.
Québec 2030
The multimillion dollar investment is part of the government’s $2.16 billion (USD) budget to make the region “an innovative and creative society”. Further plans for expenditure were released May 2017 in the Québec Research and Innovation Strategy 2012-2022, under the charge of Minister Anglade.
Supporting Blais’s announcement, Anglade comments,
The implementation of this first integrated 3D medical center in Quebec is a good example of the major role that innovation plays in the advancement of science and health care. The new Quebec Strategy for Research and Innovation gives Québec the means to become one of the most innovative and creative regions in the world. It relies on the input of our key partners, such as the CRIQ, which is a lever for Québec’s industrial competitiveness.
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Featured image: Hôpital du Saint-Sacrement, part of the CHU of Québec-Université Laval network of hospitals. Photo via amedicalweb
