Are India’s 3D printed implants market misfits?
Highly customisable, shorter surgery-time, and a minimal risk of infection. Why isn’t 3D-printed implants a thing in India?

It’s a jigsaw puzzle in your hip. That’s how Deepak Shivaratre describes 3D printed hip implants. The chief of orthopaedic oncology at Bengaluru-based HOSMAT Joint Replacement Centre, Shivaratre knows a thing or two about 3D printed implants, having done 10 hip replacement surgeries — all of them involving 3D printed hip implants.
Shivaratre’s tryst with 3D printed implants began back in 2008, during an almost 15-year-long stint with the Royal Liverpool University Hospital (RLUH) in the United Kingdom. Here, he had a ringside seat as 3D printed medical implants rose to prominence.
MedGadget says the market for 3D printed medical implants worldwide was worth almost $1,125 million in 2018, and growing at close to 19% year-on-year.
Indeed, it is the potential of 3D printed implants that drew Shivaratre back to India — he wanted to be at the forefront of India’s nascent 3D printed medical devices space. Having designed implants for patients with tumours, he thought it was the future of orthopaedics and came back to India to see if the technology could be used similarly here.
“One of the reasons for me to relocate to India was to do 3D printing in India, I did not want to startup in Britain,” he explains. In addition to his role as a doctor, Shivaratre also serves as medical advisor to Singapore-based Supercraft3D Wellness.
So why hasn’t India embraced 3D printed implants. Read Suraksha’s story to know more: https://the-ken.com/story/3d-printed-implants-market-misfits-in-india/
This excerpt is a part of a story published on The Ken on 7th November 2019, by Suraksha P.
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