The First 3D Printer from the Firm that Makes Synthetic Humans for Medical Training

SynDaver is famous for manufacturing synthetic wet tissue bodies of humans and animals for surgical simulation, medical training, school dissection labs, and even for some of the best American medical and crime drama television series, like CSI and Grey’s Anatomy. The company’s sophisticated artificial humans pump synthetic blood, breath, and have hundreds of muscles, bones, and organs made from materials that mimic live tissue. A lot of the work at SynDaver in the past decade has been done thanks to the extensive use of 3D printing technology. Now, the company has decided to make and sell its own 3D printer, the new SynDaver Axi.

The company’s first-ever 3D printer line is built on industry-proven technology. It was developed after the creation of a new business division, called SynDaver West. The division leverages talent from Aleph Objects’ 3D printer line LulzBot, a well-known Loveland, Colorado 3D printing company that closed down at the end of 2019 before being acquired by FAME 3D. Since then, the SynDaver West team has been quietly working on the development of the SynDaver Axi in Loveland and, now it’s ready to go commercial, the 3D printer will be produced in Tampa.

The SynDaver West team (Credit: Curt Ketner/LinkedIn)

Designed for a wide array of industry, education, and military applications as well as for prosumers and hobbyists, the easy-to-use, professional desktop 3D printer features a large color touchscreen; a heated, automatic self-leveling and removable bedplate; an E3D Hemera extrusion system, and a filament runout sensor that pauses the print when no filament is detected, and it is supposed to be ‘shockingly quiet’.

The company claimed that its machine has unprecedented precision and dimensional accuracy and that it can print large volume builds of 280 x 280 x 285 mm, to the full size of the print bed with edge-to-edge printing capability. Additionally, Axi supports all major filaments up to 290°C from a wide range of manufacturers, which helps keep material costs to a minimum.

“When we designed this printer, we incorporated the best features from every other leading printer currently available, fine-tuned them to ensure the printer works amazingly well, and made it rugged and remarkably reliable,” said Curt Ketner, vice president of SynDaver and head of the successfully launched 3D printing division within SynDaver. “This printer can be used by companies with a need for serious 3D printing capabilities or by 3D printing hobbyists, and we even took security into consideration, so this can be immediately adopted and deployed by the military while maintaining operational security.”

The SynDaver Axi (Credit: SynDaver)

The printer is available for $3,250 directly through SynDaver or any of its official channel partners, which include IT-Works 3D, Makerwiz, Midwest Technology, 3D Printlife, and Printed Solid. The SynDaver Axi will also soon be available for purchase on Amazon, Matterhackers, Mouser, Digi-Key and Print Your Mind.

The founder and CEO of SynDaver, Christopher Sakezles stated, “Axi is highly capable and durable—basically the printer I have always wanted. Still, this is just the beginning for us—we are already developing our next printer which is expected to launch sometime in Q1 next year.”

SynDaver founder Christopher Sakezles (Credit: Christopher Sakezles)

Apparently this is only the beginning for SynDaver’s 3D printing devices. The Axi will be manufactured at SynDaver’s campus in Tampa, which is being set up as a new business incubator. According to Sakezles, the incubator will focus on helping companies that are manufacturing American-made goods in the technology space, and other businesses that serve those companies. Since it is a US-made machine, the Axi comes with free US-based customer and technical support, and a three-year warranty, which is an upgrade from the one-year warranty that many of the competing printers in the market offer.

Now that the Axi has debuted on the SynDaver site, we can expect to see much more from the company as it makes its way into the field of 3D printer manufacturing. Just like with their synthetic corpses, they saw a demand for easy to use and low-cost 3D printers. With so many hospitals, medical schools, veterinary schools, and even high schools beginning to use fake human and animal bodies to teach anatomy, SynDaver’s original niche has developed a great market potential. Its synthetic corpses have become a go-to tool to rehearse some of the most complex medical scenarios, as they offer a canvas for medical professionals to practice on—a canvas that can, in fact, be reused, unlike real human cadavers, which are hard to come by and are either frozen or contain hazardous materials for embalmment.

Since its foundation in 2004, SynDaver has spurred a change in the area of synthetic human cadavers, and just like with its fake corpses, the new 3D printer may become a great addition to the company’s repertoire, especially as a powerful tool for education.