How 3D printing can revolutionise the medical field

The healthcare industry is rapidly evolving its efforts into 3D printing. From advanced prosthetic limbs and using cells to print organs, experimental headway is being made within the industry.

Technology has always been a present feature in the medical field, and even more so now that bio printing has stormed ahead at the forefront of technological advances. To put it simply, bio printing works when cells are fused together with hydrogel to create tissue.

At the moment bio printing is just that, experimental, and many of the experiments underway still have progress to be made. The majority of projects developed over the past year still need to figure out how to apply their findings to humans. As a fairly new market it can be difficult to gauge exactly where it is going to go. Nonetheless there are two advancements this year which have captivated the medical community.

A company called Organov has already successfully printed sheets of cardiac tissue and blood vessels that beat along, just like any normal heart would. This could be game-changing for humans in the future.

Scientists at MIT have long been experimenting with bio printing, and Sangeeta Bhatia’s team have created miniature human livers. The human livers were created in a lab, and contain approximately a million cells. It seems that synthetic organs could not be far off.

Schools eligible to receive life-saving equipment!

Northern Irish schools will soon benefit from a new initiative, announced the Education Minister this month. Schools all over Northern Ireland will be eligible to receive vital life-saving equipment, including defibrillators, on top of the current first aid system in place, as a result of the new scheme.

The plan will affect both Primary School and Secondary schools up and down the country, although the new scheme won’t be completely free for those involved. It’s speculated that contracts will be available to receive training at reduced costs to ensure the proper steps are taking when using the machines. Schools will also receive a hefty discount on the machines themselves. Any school which decides to opt-in to the additional level of first aid will be strongly supported by health professionals.

The proposed plan won’t just affect schools though; the aim of the scheme is to provide defibrillators in 43,000 public places at a cost of over 100 million Euros.

Launching the new guidelines, John O’Dowd said: “Thankfully, the incidence of cardiac arrest in under-18s is very low” and added “however we know that in such circumstances the most effective treatment is CPR combined with the use of a defibrillator. This significantly improves survival rates.”

The scheme is also spreading out to areas where the risk of cardiac arrest is highest, such as leisure facilities and training grounds. The devices will be available at such locations and other heavily populated areas.

It’s great to see another city which has a strong focus on the health of the public.

The Shard becomes the new home of a defibrillator

The Shard welcomed almost one million visitors through its door during the first year of the opening to the public, and popularity has continued to steadily grow for the tourist attraction. Not content with being a beloved feature in London, they also want to become one of the safest, so much so they have recently become the new home of a defibrillator - which is the highest device in the whole of Western Europe.

The operations director of The Shard, Sandy Clarke has urged for "every business in London to get a defibrillator installed. If we can install one at one of the highest points in Europe, then anyone can do it!"

The director added "we know that having this equipment and properly trained staff to use it could help us save a life in the future."

The newly installed device is part of the London Ambulance Service's Shockingly Easy campaign, which has been taking the city by storm. The primary aim of the scheme is to fit over 1000 defibrillators across London. The scheme will be focusing on public areas such as businesses, retail areas, sports facilities and high footfall areas.







The campaign also provides support to organisations, and will help businesses through the process of purchasing and installing a defibrillator, staff training and becoming accredited with the London Ambulance Service.


Seeing such an attraction like The Shard investing in a defibrillator is a big step, and hopefully we could soon see other major players follow their lead.

Defibrillators Open Job Opportunities!

A Belfast company has created more than 40 jobs in the name of "making defibrillators as common as fire extinguishers” as said by the chief executive of HeartSine Technology. Declan O’Mahoney is focusing on portable defibrillators and says he wants to double the sales of the existing product over the next 3 years.

The 40 new jobs will contribute around 1.3 million a year to the economy. Mr O’Mahoney is dedicated to the cause, stating “Around 100,000 people die from sudden cardiac arrest in the UK and Ireland each year, a couple of hundred die in fires," he said.

The positions opening are in a wide array of sectors, from senior management, product development, quality control, customer service, sales and manufacturing. The company has stated they wish to employ those who live in the local area to help the area with jobs.

"Yet there is a fire extinguisher or a smoke alarm in every public building. Our products are already in schools, restaurants, churches, sports clubs and even oil rigs and I want to make sure they are in every public building in the same way that fire extinguishers are.”
He also added “Our objective is to strength our workforce in Belfast so that we can double sales of our existing product portfolio, in our target markets over the next 3 years”

It’s great to see a company put so much work into making defibrillators a common item for citizens.

Internal Defibrillators Can Reduce Heart Failure By 40%

New guidelines have emerged from the National Institute for Health and Care Excellence (more commonly known as NICE) meaning that more patients who suffer from potentially fatal heart conditions will now be eligible to have internal defibrillators fitted. The association of British Healthcare Industries has estimated that the change could cut death from heart failure by up to 40 per cent nationwide.

Up until this point, patients have been receiving preventive treatment measures such as beta-blockers - however it has been well noted that these will not help a patient if any abnormal heart activity occurs, they only regulate heart activity to begin with.

Before the new guideline was put in place, those eligible for the devices were patients who have suffered from ventricular tachycardia, a leading cause of cardiac death. The treasurer for the British Society of Heart Failure stated

‘There have been many clinical trials over the past five or six years that have demonstrated this will save lives,’

The devices are miniature versions of regular defibrillators, and will be placed under the skin with wires connected to the heart. When an irregular heartbeat occurs the device will deliver an electric shock to return the heartbeat to normal.

Gately's Family Back Defibrillator Scheme

The family of Boyzone singer Stephen Gately has come out and publicly backed the healthcare campaign currently being run by the Evening News. The campaign is focused on bringing a defibrillator to every Lothians sports club and leisure centre.

When pop star Stephen tragically died in 2009, his friends, family and fans from all over the world were devastated, and his death touched the hearts of many of us here in the UK. The sudden cause of death was revealed on autopsy, and was revealed to be caused by a genetic heart condition - which had gone unnoticed his whole life. After his death, the family found ways to cope and one of the many ways was to back the Shockingly Easy campaign, in doing so, they joined Jamie Skinners family in the race to find ways to prevent these tragedies affecting others.

Stephens’ family said in a heart wrenching statement “I want no other family to go through what ours has” and added “I can’t put into words how I feel about the loss of Stephen. It’s something that is with me every day”.

Stephens’ particular heart condition was difficult to detect during his life, however since the tragedy his siblings are undergoing genetic tests to see if they also carry the illness.

She finally added “[These conditions] are silent killers” We can only offer our good thoughts to those affected by Stephens’ death, and give our support to the campaign. The campaign will hopefully give the family and those close to Stephen some peace of mind.

Charitable Couple Help Village

Weddings are normally lavish occasions, rich with food, gifts and family. However, one couple have decided to do things a little differently for their special day, instead of receiving tokens of love from friends and family for the happy couple – they have decided to ask their guests to help out the village. The village is in desperate need of a defibrillator, and the couple will be fund raising to cover the cost.

Martin Douglas and Viv Bailey are both lifeboat volunteers and have estimated that around £2,000 in donations would be enough for them to purchase the machine. They have planned to place it in a public place in the village, so it can be accessed by anyone who needs it.

The groom, Martin, said: “It is very important for the village as there is no accessible defibrillator, so if someone is waiting for an ambulance it has to come from Inverness or Invermoriston.”

Martin also added “Defibrillators save lives. There is no doubt or debate about it and myself and Viv know this as first responders.

“It is important for a fairly remote area like ours but we also need them in city centres. Our ambulance service is superb but easy-to-use defibrillators placed in city centres are vital too, because a few seconds difference in response times can save lives.”

The pair will be getting hitched at Urguhart Castle by Loch Ness on the 4th of August, and are expected to reach their target.