A human bone held together with a custom bone implant
Researchers from UTS’s Centre for Business and Social Innovation (CBSI) are working in collaboration with global medical technology company Stryker, RMIT University and St Vincent’s hospital to transform the way physicians surgically treat tumours and osteosarcoma – bone cancer.
The five-year project, called Just-In-Time (JIT) Patient-Specific Tumour Implants, was initiated in 2017 following the establishment of the Innovative Manufacturing Cooperative Research Centre (IMCRC), a coalition of companies and research organisations aiming to catalyse the transformation of Australian manufacturing.
While RMIT researchers are focusing on the technology development side of things, researchers from CBSI have been working closely with Stryker, with input from the UTS Design Innovation Research Centre (DiRC), on the business case and go-to-market plan for the project.
Professor Emmanuel Josserand is leading UTS’ contribution to the project and says the overall aim is to significantly improve the health outcomes of patients needing bone implants.
“The current design and manufacturing process for patient-specific implants is manual and very time-consuming. This delay increases the risk the implant will be inappropriate to reconstruct the void that is created when removing the growing bone tumour from the patient’s body,” he explains.
“The JIT project combines 3D printing, robotic surgery and advanced manufacturing to quickly create custom implants, revolutionising the way prostheses are manufactured and supplied. It’s hoped this will maximise the retention of the patient’s own bone and soft tissue, decrease the length of hospital stay and reduce the severity of the illness.”
It has been fantastic to work with the team at UTS ... energetic, easy to communicate with, has always asked the right questions and is always generating, and then running with, great ideas. I’m really impressed.
— Ulrich Buehner, R&D Manager at Stryker Asia Pacific
Just three years into the project and Josserand’s team has already had a profound impact. Dr Katrina Skellern is a Postdoc Research Fellow at CBSI and has been the main liaison point between Stryker and UTS. She’s led all aspects of the stakeholder consultation and been instrumental in developing the commercialisation and business aspects of the project.
“We’ve undertaken about 80 interviews with stakeholders from Stryker, industry, health professionals, surgeons, patients and government and, together with our colleagues at DiRC, have developed in-depth Patient and Stakeholder Journey Maps,” she explains.
“In doing so, we’ve centred the business case and process around the patient instead of it being driven by the technology.”
According to Ulrich Buehner, R&D Manager at Stryker Asia Pacific the maps are so impressive they have already been embedded into the company’s business practices.
Emmanuel Josserand
“Working with UTS has enabled us to do a valuable and extensive stakeholder analysis and the patient maps have been an incredible outcome,” he says.
“It has been fantastic to work with the team at UTS. Katrina, in particular, has been energetic, easy to communicate with, has always asked the right questions and is always generating, and then running with, great ideas. I’m really impressed.”
With less than two years to run, there is still much left to do (so much so that Stryker has doubled UTS’ budget), but the project has great momentum and the team hopes to not just have a commercial product at the end of it, but have made a significant contribution towards the establishment of a cutting-edge manufacturing hub in Australia too.
“That’s the long-term result we’re aiming for,” continues Buehner. “We’d like to commercialise this technology, primarily for osteosarcoma, but also use the opportunity to foster local manufacturing in Australia.”
Research team
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Professor of Management and Organisation Studies, Management Discipline Group -
Postdoctoral Research Fellow, Centre for Business and Social Innovation -
Leanne SobelStrategic Design Practitioner, Design Innovation Research Centre -
Kat PereiraGraphic Designer, Design Innovation Research Centre
Research centre
- Centre for Business and Social Innovation (CBSI)
Funded by
- Stryker Asia Pacific
- Innovative Manufacturing Cooperative Research Centre
