The EPIC Lab is a multi-disciplinary team headed by Prof David Little (paediatric orthopaedic surgeon) and Prof Joshua Burns (Professor of Paediatric Neuromuscular Rehabilitation), and is led by Dr Tegan Cheng (biomedical engineer and scientist) and includes staff and students from engineering, medicine and allied health.
We have specialty software that allows us to 3D print models of patient anatomy from CT or MRI scans. These 3D prints can be used to optimise the design of new implants we are developing, pre-operatively plan for surgery or develop medical educational models.
There are synthetic bones, known as sawbones, that can be used to do mock surgeries, test the usability of new implants we have developed, or do biomechanical studies to understand the impact of different surgical approaches.
We have mechanical testing machines that can be test the relative strength of different constructs. These samples can be sawbones, device prototypes or pre-clinical samples.
One of our core research programs, called Printhotics, is focused on 3D printing ankle-foot orthoses (AFO) for children. The Printhotics research program aims to advance every step of the AFO production pathway and involves collaborators and students from a wide range of University of Sydney faculties.
The Fortus 450mc is a high end filament printer that can be used to produce end-use parts. We use this printer to prototype implants, produce anatomical models and fabricate AFOs. We also have more hobby level 3D printers, including a Guider 2 and Form2.
3D surface scanning can be used to produce a 3D model of the exterior of an object. The Artec Eva is a structured light 3D scanner that is capable of capturing medium sized objects with textures. We also have other 3D scanners, such as the David scanner and Structure scanner.
The EPIC Lab is based at the Children’s Hospital at Westmead and we research and develop medical devices for children. We focus on implantable orthopaedic devices and 3D printed orthotic devices for children with musculoskeletal and neuromuscular conditions. Jack Skellington is our lab mascot.
One of our core research programs focuses on innovating and developing implants specifically for children’s orthopaedic conditions. Driven by the clinical needs of children, our goal is to commercialise paediatric devices so that orthopaedic surgeons have the appropriate implants to treat children’s musculoskeletal conditions.