The Centre for Rapid Prototyping and Manufacturing (CRPM) is celebrated for the impact that Additive Manufacturing (AM) continues to make in changing people’s lives. Established in 1997 as a centre for commercial work and research using rapid prototyping, rapid manufacturing, rapid tooling and medical product development technologies, the centre has ten AM machines which makes it one of the best equipped AM centres of its kind in the Southern Hemisphere.
Life-long changes in the 20 years of innovation at the Central University of Technology, Free State (CUT), come in various forms such as the more than 60 successful AM cases with full and hemi-maxilla implants and more than 1 000 people who have been assisted. These include:
- Princess Moshoane, a victim of a car hijacking who was shot in the face and lost her teeth. She had reconstructive surgery to improve her facial appearance in 2019.
- Skhumbuso Makhoesa had a prosthetic ear designed for him, having been born with one normal ear but the other one underdeveloped in 2019.
- Elijah Cloete, born with underdeveloped ears and sealed ear canals due to an unusual congenital medical condition known as microtia with bilateral congenital aural atresia. In July 2018, a life-changing surgery was performed with an intervention involving maxillofacial prosthodontist Prof. Cules van den Heever, the Centre for Rapid Prototyping and Manufacturing (CRPM), and the Carl and Emily Fuchs Foundation.
Elijah’s malformed external ears were surgically removed, and the implants were then carefully positioned using the patient-specific surgical stent.
- Tylor Baker was also assisted in 2017. He was born without ear canals, too, and had difficulty communicating.
- Luan Adams, diagnosed with sinus cancer in 2009, a 3D-printed titanium frame implant which is used to hold the prosthetic, has since changed his life. Van den Heever helped create a facial prosthetic made of silicone for Adams. After sinus cancer disfigured his face, Adams’ speech and breathing were affected.
To date, the centre has designed more than 17 3D-printed implants.
