Academic Researchers
Lorenzo Gentili
PRINTMED-3D is a vision, it is the fusion of personalized medicine and additive manufacturing, two essential aspects of the educational training and surgical strategies of the future.
Francesca Maria Orecchio
For me, PRINTMED-3D represents the attempt to revolutionize the way of conceiving the biomedical sector, which has been left static by dusty, academic approaches. The main innovation of this project, in my opinion, lies precisely in the ability to identify the right questions to ask in relation to real problems, to be answered in a way that is effective but above all practical. It's an equation in which simplicity does not mean ease of implementation. Specifically, I was able to understand the real flexibility and innovation of PRINTMED-3D in relation to my work, asking myself questions which, as a cell biologist, I had never pondered in the past. I am learning to understand the limits of current techniques of classical molecular biology (especially those used for the maintenance of cell lines) and I am identifying the aspects on which we can intervene to simplify, automate and speed up the established experiments on 2D cell cultures. For me, the creation of a microfluidic device with a material suitable for biological purposes is the obstacle and, at the same time, the biggest challenge of the whole project. Identifying the correct material in this area would be an innovative and revolutionary result since, at present, it inductively represents the greatest limitation on the production and use of these products on a large scale.