Texas Biotech Startup SiMMo3D Launches 3D Printed Organ Models, Announces $20K in Seed Funding

Biotech startup SiMMo3D was just founded in 2016 and formally launched this week, and is dedicated to the education of medical students, continued surgical training, and biomedical research. The company has announced the launch of its Teaching Tissues: simulated, synthetic 3D printed organ models. The models will serve as much-needed training tools in the medical and educational community of Temple, Texas, where SiMMo3D is located. The company additionally received a $20,000 grant in seed funding by a city-supported incubator, Temple Health and Bioscience District (THBD). So let’s head deep into the heart of Texas, where the prairie sky is wide and high (sorry, Perry Como)!

Medical schools all over the world depend on learning labs, medical models, and simulation for training purposes, so there’s always an overwhelming demand for more accurate tools. Practice makes perfect, as the saying goes, and I know that if I were on the operating table, I’d want my surgeon to be as prepared as possible. Yes folks, 3D printing can help save lives.

SiMMo3D products are created to be affordable, as well as anatomically accurate in feel, shape, and size. Using a synthetic polymer resin, a variety of colors, and multiple 3D printers, the 3D printed Teaching Tissues mimic the visual aesthetic and texture of actual body tissue and the human anatomy. The models are printed using a combination of MRI data and CT scans.

CEO Ryan Quinn (L) and CTO Colin Dodson, SiMMo3D [Image: SiMMo3D via Facebook]

Ryan Quinn, CEO and co-founder of SiMMo3D, said, “We are proud to offer 3D printed organ models that are accessible and affordable to more researchers, students and educational institutions. These tools are training doctors by shifting the learning paradigm from memorizing facts to tactile learning. The product we create today will be used to better train the doctors of tomorrow, which saves more lives in the future.”

Using 3D printed medical models, like SiMMo3D’s products, can better prepare the medical community, and ultimately improve patient outcomes, through applied medical simulation training. For example, various disease states can be better demonstrated using organ models, and a larger audience is able to more easily grasp these types of concepts through this specialized hands-on training. The company 3D prints its organ models on site at the incubator in THBD’s Laboratory Facility, a 5,000-square-foot building in the Temple Medical and Education District (TMED). The incubator is also home to two other startups at the moment, and has room for additional tenants.

The city of Temple, where SiMMo3D and THBD are located, is part of an expanding biotech corridor of Texas. THBD was created as a result of Texas legislation, and Temple voters approved and funded the district’s establishment in 2003. It is the only such district in the state, and is governed by a seven-member board, who serve staggered three-year terms and were elected by Temple citizens. The district provides office and lab space for early-stage biotech companies focused on driving health-related conceptual products all the way to the manufacturing stage. The incubator helps to supports the growth of biotechnology companies in the Texas economy.

“SiMMo3D is a stellar example of the entrepreneurial, biotech talent flowing from Temple and across the state of Texas and we gladly support them. We see SiMMo3D’s technology as an investment into the future of the medical industry so that surgeons can be more precise, doctors can better demonstrate diseases to their patients, researchers can gain better insight and medical students can be more prepared for what lies ahead,” said Jack Hart, THBD Executive Director.

As the city strives to attract more businesses and programs in the bioscience industry, THBD has been a big help in assisting many of these positive developments, including offering its help with the design of the Scott and White Cancer Research Institute, and helping to create and build Temple College‘s regionally recognized Texas Bioscience Institute (TBI). The TBI supports the District’s overall mission, and is not only a perfect venue for the continuing development of a biotechnology workforce, but also gives local high school juniors and seniors a demanding science curriculum.

Colin Dodson, CTO and co-founder of SiMMo3D, said, “At SiMMo3D, we use cutting-edge technology to create anatomically accurate organ replicas thanks to the availability of the printing technology in THBD’s laboratory facility. Cadavers with rare and complex disease states that are currently unavailable or take years to acquire can now be simulated on a large scale quickly and at an affordable rate. Our aim is to instill confidence in students, doctors and surgeons which results in more confidence in patients-we would not be able to attain our goals without the support of THBD and the citizens of Temple.”

If you can’t find exactly what you’re looking for in SiMMo3D’s line of 3D printed Teaching Tissues, custom orders are available. To take a look at the common lab space of the THBD, watch this brief video, found on the district’s Facebook page. Discuss in the SiMMo3D forum at 3DPB.com.