The Veterans Health Administration (VHA) has contracted 3D Systems to employ additively manufacturing solutions to better serve veterans with next-generation medical devices produced at the Veterans Affairs (VA) hospital. In this collaboration, 3D Systems will support the VHA as it establishes FDA-compliant manufacturing facilities within its hospitals for the production of additively manufactured medical devices. As a result, the VA network will streamline its supply chain and accelerate innovation to enhance personalized care for its patients—U.S. veterans.
The VA will collaborate with 3D Systems’ healthcare additive manufacturing team to design medical devices and take them through FDA clearance. 3D Systems will manage the regulatory paperwork and development of a quality management system at VHA facilities, training the VHA teams to take ownership of the process. The training will also encompass running the quality management system and completing product submissions for regulatory clearance. The solution will include the company’s ProX SLS 6100 3D printers and materials, as well as 3D Systems’ VSP-related workflows and software.
This initiative is an expansion of a collaboration formed between 3D Systems and the VHA to address supply chain issues in the early days of the COVID-19 pandemic, when the StopGap Face Mask was produced, followed by a 3D-printed nasopharyngeal swab that could be printed on production-level equipment.
“What began during the pandemic in response to a critical need has expanded to change the way healthcare is delivered,” said Menno Ellis, EVP, healthcare solutions at 3D Systems, in a press release. “This is a one-of-a-kind collaboration between an additive manufacturing solutions provider and one of the world’s largest integrated health care systems to accelerate innovation in the medical device production and deployment arena.”