Mayo Clinic has a long history of engineering and making its own tools and devices, but a new printer will catapult in-house manufacturing to a shiny, new level.
Construction is underway in the downtown Baldwin Building to create space for the Mayo Clinic division of Engineering Additive Manufacturing facility. The core of that facility will be a 3D printer or additive manufacturing device that will use “medical-grade, implant-grade titanium” to produce devices, tools and more. Someday, it could even be used to manufacture patient implants.
“It’s a big deal. To my knowledge, Mayo Clinic is the only hospital not connected to an university engineering department installing a 3D metal printer,” said Laralyn McDaniel of the American Society of Mechanical Engineers. “It’s a considerable leap, particularly within hospital setting.”
Jeff Kiger jkiger@postbulletin.com