MUN Med 3D

 Hello there Blog readers,

We are MUN MED 3D! An initiative developed and operated by MUN medical students Michael Bartellas and Stephen Ryan, with key mentoring from Dr. Gary Paterno. The goal of MUN MED 3D is to bring three-dimensional (3D) printing (or rapid prototyping) to the MUN Faculty of Medicine. We dreamed of creating a space where students and staff alike could easily access 3D printers for research, and innovation. We also hoped to bring together the Faculties of Engineering and Medicine to collaborate on novel Biomedical research in order to strengthen this campus wide relationship and and spark student interest. In August of 2016, we were awarded a grant from the Teaching and Learning Fund and were able to move forward with our vision!

With guidance and support from Dr. Andrew Smith (MD) and Dr. Andrew Fisher (ENG) we were able to secure enough funding to hire an engineering co-op student. This student (Gregory Doucet) has been a vital part of our team and has contributed much time and effort into furthering development of this project. After we secured a student we were fortunate enough to be offered a space for our 3D Printing Lab. Dr. Tia Renouf and Dr. Adam Dubrowski have been incredibly supportive of our project and are to thank for generously solving our space issue. We are positioned in the basement of the Health Science Centre, in a room commonly referred to as the “Shark Tank” (see picture 1). With funding, an in house engineering student and a lab to work in, we were able to order two 3D printers, one from Ultimaker (Ultimaker 2+), and one from LulzBot (Taz 6).

After setting up the space we actively started reaching out for project ideas and collaboration opportunities. We have connected with several medical students and residents who are now spearheading their own project related to 3D printing and medicine. Additionally, projects are ongoing in the fields of Otolaryngology, Orthopedic Surgery, Neurosurgery, Opthalmology, Plastic Surgery, Emergency Medicine, and Obstetrics and Gynaecology. Some of these projects focus on undergraduate education, such as printing parts for teaching anatomy, while other projects are focused on simulation and training for residents. To highlight some of our most recent ongoing work, we have two projects in medical simulation that we are excited to share. One project is focused on printing a cervix with a hemorrhaging neoplasm for resident simulation training  (picture 2). The other is focused on creating a low fidelity trachea model for cricothyroidotomy and airway management (picture 3).

In addition to these projects, we have created the first Biomedical Engineering Interest Group (BEIG). This group is aimed at increasing interdisciplinary collaboration between students in Medicine and Engineering. The BEIG holds monthly meetings where guest lecturers working in the biomedical engineering field are brought in to share their innovative and cutting edge research as well as stimulate interest in the undergraduate student population. The BEIG also provides a place where students can discuss project ideas, connect with potential supervisors and begin working on projects that are connected to MUN MED 3D.

We are thrilled at the level of engagement and enthusiasm we have witnessed thus far. We are also looking forward to continuing our research, and helping to improve health care in Newfoundland and Labrador. If you have any interest in exploring some more of our work please feel free to check us out at:

URL: http://www.med.mun.ca/Biomedical-Engineering/MUN-MED-3D.aspx.
Facebook: MUN MED 3D and Biomedical Engineering Interest Group
Email: munmed3d@gmail.com

All the best,

Michael, Steve, and Greg!