Stratasys Makes Strategic Investment in Axial3D

Med-tech startup Axial3D has announced the closing of a $15 million investment round led by a strategic investment of $10 million from Stratasys. This is Stratasys’ first investment in Axial3D. The two companies also will be providing a joint offering to make patient-specific 3D printing solutions for hospitals and medical device manufacturers more accessible.

Personalized 3D printed anatomic models are used for pre-surgical planning and diagnostic use to improve patient outcomes. They are also used in education and training, and medical device development. Creating a 3D printed model from a patient’s scan data normally takes several hours and requires a high level of technical expertise and expensive software licenses, according to Stratasys. Axial3D’s artificial intelligence-powered algorithms enable healthcare providers to segment CT and MRI scans for these models without significant investments in time, specialized skills and large upfront costs.

Stratasys’ J850 Digital Anatomy 3D printer enables medical customers to create models that accurately represent the appearance of human tissue and are biomechanically realistic while suturing, cutting or inserting and deploying medical devices. A range of Stratasys printers and materials have been validated and FDA 510(k) cleared with Axial3D software to produce anatomic models for pre-operative surgical planning and diagnostic use across multiple specialties.

“We believe that to move the industry from early adopters to the mainstream, we need to improve the accessibility of models for healthcare so hospitals and medical device manufacturers can scale their patient-specific programs,” says Axial3D CEO Roger Johnston. “Our joint offerings will be the positive, disruptive catalyst that medical 3D printing needs to address 3D printing accessibility.”

Stratasys has estimated the opportunity for medical 3D printing at approximately $2.8 billion.

“Many of the world’s leading hospitals are already benefiting from our MediJet and Digital Anatomy 3D printers for medical models,” says Dr. Yoav Zeif, CEO of Stratasys. “We believe that by working together with Axial3D, we can remove the barriers to entry for the remaining majority of hospitals in many countries around the world, dramatically growing the use of 3D printing in pre-surgical planning so it is truly a standard part of patient care.”

Axial3D (booth 8209) and Stratasys (booth 8312) will both exhibit and further discuss their shared collaboration plans at the RSNA 2022 annual meeting and tradeshow sponsored by the Radiological Society of North America in Chicago, Nov. 27 through Dec. 1.

Sources: Press materials received from the company and additional information gleaned from the company’s website.

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