Collaborative Development of Advanced Additive Manufacturing Solutions for Healthcare

Fundació Centre CIM (CIM UPC) is seeking research, clinical and industrial partners for collaborative projects focused on advanced additive manufacturing and its application to healthcare and life sciences.

We are particularly interested in cooperation involving:

• Personalised medical and veterinary implants.

• Advanced polymer and polymer–mineral composites.

• Bio-functional and regenerative scaffolds.

• Multi-material and soft-material additive manufacturing.

• Direct Ink Writing and other high-resolution printing technologies.

• High-temperature processing of engineering polymers such as PEKK and PEEK.

• Digital design, patient-specific manufacturing and process optimisation.

• Functional and intelligent 3D-printed structures.

• Mechanical, biological and application-specific validation.

One current opportunity is VETREGEN, a concept for personalised regenerative veterinary implants. The proposed solution combines a patient-specific PEKK scaffold with a biodegradable and bioactive PCL–bioactive glass phase. The objective is to integrate mechanical support, controlled architecture and biological functionality within a single implant concept.

At this stage, we are looking for partners who can contribute to one or more of the following activities:

• Clinical and veterinary requirements definition.

• Patient-specific design and digital workflows.

• Advanced materials development and characterisation.

• High-temperature pellet-based additive manufacturing.

• Composite infiltration and interface optimisation.

• Mechanical, degradation and biological testing.

• Preclinical study design, subject to the relevant ethical and regulatory approvals.

• Industrial scale-up, manufacturing and commercialisation.

• Joint applications to national and European R&D funding programmes.

We are open to both project-based cooperation and longer-term partnerships with universities, hospitals, veterinary clinics, research organisations, material suppliers, equipment manufacturers and industrial companies.