September 25, 2014 — Materialise, a provider of additive manufacturing software solutions and 3-D printing services for a variety of industries, announced that orthopedic surgeon Roger Jaeken, M.D., of AZ Heilige Familie (Holy Family General Hospital) in Reet, Belgium, has successfully performed the first total knee surgery that was pre-planned with the Materialise X-ray knee guide solution. The new proprietary technology allows for preplanning of knee replacement surgeries as well as the 3-D printing of related surgical guides solely on the basis of 2-D X-ray images.
Until now, the technology that combines the surgical planning of total knee replacements in a virtual 3-D software environment with the 3-D printing of corresponding patient-specific surgical guides required the availability of computed tomography (CT) or magnetic resonance imaging (MRI) scans of the patient’s knee. These imaging modalities are only used in a minority of all knee replacement surgeries. Materialise, which previously pioneered CT- and MRI-based knee guide technology, has now developed the next-generation of total knee replacement surgical planning and guiding tools, which turn 2-D X-ray images into 3-D information and solutions.
“I’m very excited to be part of this development project.” Jaeken stated. “The ability to work from X-ray images will make the surgical preplanning process even more efficient. This is because, in many instances, patients will no longer have to undergo an often time-consuming CT or MRI scan, lead times will become shorter and more cases will become eligible for preoperative planning.”
”At Materialise, we initiated the R&D program that is at the source of our new X-ray based technology shortly after the successful introduction of our CT/MRI-based guide technology. The reason for this is our continued drive to stay one step ahead of the industry,” said Fried Vancraen, CEO of Materialise. “We consider the first treatment of a patient with our X-ray technology as an important landmark in this development program.”
Materialise intends to continue evaluating the X-ray based knee guide technology, starting with a limited release of the product in Europe before initiating the regulatory clearance process in the United States.
For more information: www.materialise.com
February 01, 2024 
