Research In South Jersey Focuses On Making Plastic Knee Replacements With 3D Printers

by KYW's David Madden

(GLASSBORO, NJ) --  3-D printers are all the rage these days. Now there's a project at Cooper University Hospital and Rowan University to use a printer and polymers to develop a new, plastic knee replacement that would deliver medicine to help prevent infections.

The idea is still years off, according to Cooper surgeon Dr. Tae Won Kim. Teaming up with Rowan engineering professor Shivakumar Ranganathan and a class of graduate students , Kim says they're coming close to a major breakthrough.

"It's in the process of developing 3-D printed devices which are able to provide antibiotics in a more controlled fashion," Kim told KYW Newsradio.

The device would temporarily replace an artificial knee when and if an infection sets in. What's at issue now is how long the device could stay in, although long term it's hoped these devices would replace the metal implants altogether.

"Although the current standards are good, we feel that leveraging the new technologies available for 3-D printing and polymeric implants can help improve that," Kim said.

The research is being funded by a grant from the New Jersey Health Foundation and the Nicholson Foundation.