Formlabs is doubling down on 3D printing in healthcare, forming a new healthcare division and tapping imaging industry veteran Guillaume Bailliard to lead the business.
Guillaume Bailliard. Image courtesy of Formlabs.Formlabs has already sold more than 25,000 3D printers for healthcare, but the company believes that a dedicated division could help it make even more inroads into the medical space. The healthcare division covers 3D printing in both medical and dentistry.
Bailliard most recently was president and CEO of ControRad, and prior to that was president for North America of Mauna Kea Technologies. He also served a stint at breast cancer imaging developer Naviscan, and previously was an executive for nine years at GE Healthcare.
Formlabs believes that the healthcare industry is ready to make even greater investments in 3D printing than what it's accomplished so far. 3D-printed models are being used for patient education, training, and presurgical planning, and digital workflows are being developed to make it easier than ever for clinicians to use 3D printing technology.
Formlabs sees its technology -- at about $10,000 for a 3D printer -- as offering a more economic alternative to the more expensive systems that have been used since the early days of 3D printing. At this price point, healthcare providers can afford to not only adopt 3D printing but also install printers at the point of care, Bailliard believes.
"It allows hospitals to deploy the printer locally and let them customize devices. and do that on site. That's a game changer," Bailliard told AuntMinnie.com.
3D printing is also moving toward being more economical with the creation of a level 3 current procedural terminology (CPT) code for the technology. While healthcare providers can't get reimbursed for submitting claims with a level 3 CPT code, it will enable the American Medical Association to begin acquiring data to form the basis for a level 1 code, for which reimbursement would be available.
