Osiris Biomed 3D Wins MecklerMedia’s Startup Competition With One-Step Surgery for 3D Printed Implants

Osiris Biomed 3D won MecklerMedia’s Startup Competition held April 16th during their New York Inside 3D Printing Conference and Expo–and quite simply, one can see why. Osiris Biomed is about to be an important company—and I think most would agree we need them to go forward and thrive with their innovation in saving lives.

As winners of the Startup Competition, Osiris Biomed joins the likes of startup 3D Hubs, which won the competition last year, and has gone on to make serious bank—as well as show stunning exponential growth–in 3D printing. While the winner receives no monetary prize, the acclaim in winning the hottest pitch event in the industry–with participants raising more than $6 million in 2014—is clearly reward enough.

The startups were selected by “3D pPrinting Evangelist” and Program Chair of Inside 3D Printing Tyler Benster to bring their ideas in front of a select group of judges. Pitching their plan for a “one-step surgery” that allows surgeons to do 3D scans and 3D print implants for patients in the midst of the surgical process, the Osiris team had five minutes to present their business plan, ultimately beating out four other competing startups.

“This year’s competition was stacked with formidable participants who were selected from a competitive pool of applicants. Osiris BioMed 3D stood out for their innovative use of 3D printing in a large, untapped market that has the potential to save lives. The judges were unanimous in selecting Osiris BioMed 3D as the winner,” said Benster.

The aspiring company was founded by Dr. Theodore Gerstle (CEO), a Harvard-trained plastic surgeon, and his brother, Christopher Gerstle (COO), an intellectual property attorney with an engineering background.

They seek funding for their company, which offers the idea of 3D printed implants for patients. This is not all that unique these days, until you consider their idea for allowing surgeons to complete the whole process at once in a single anesthetic surgery, eliminating the number of surgeries and visits to the hospital required, as well as decreasing lead time to surgeries. And one key factor not to be overlooked in this process, for which they have recently applied for a patent, is that it saves a lot of money for everyone.

In the process, it’s as streamlined as this, in one surgery:

1. Patient is scanned.
2. Custom 3D device or implant is 3D printed.
3. Sterilized 3D implant or device is inserted.

Dr. Gerstle was motivated to create a transformative process regarding surgical implants after a first-hand experience that became problematic while the team he was working with planned to reconstruct the face of an older man after the ravaging effects of cancer.

The plan was to insert 3D printed implants into his jaw, but in a classic example of why Osiris’ process is so important, more bone had to be removed from the patient than planned for—rendering the waiting custom implants obsolete.

What does that mean in terms of patient duress, time, and further cost? It entails the following extra steps:

Christopher Gerstle (Image: Plasticstoday.com)

• At least two more surgeries
• New CT scan
• Discarding of original implant costing $12K
• Creation of new custom implant

“Scenarios like this play out in hospitals across the US every day, costing millions of dollars and resulting in unnecessary surgeries,” said Dr. Gerstle. “What if a 3D custom implant design studio could be put inside every operating room, empowering surgeons to print implants, cutting guides and surgical tools–in minutes–during one surgery, instead of days and weeks over several surgeries? We are not just reducing the cost of custom implants, we are eliminating entire surgeries.”

The process Osiris proposes has wide-ranging implications regarding surgery, and they point out that it would could also be considered highly beneficial in military situations where procedures must be performed under duress with little time.

Did you attend the Startup Competition in New York at MecklerMedia’s Inside 3D Printing Conference and Expo? Discuss your thoughts on this one-step surgery process for 3D printed implants and devices in the Osiris Biomed 3D forum thread over at 3DPB.com.