In view of nurturing and creating a ecosystem for preparing countries technological and product development capabilities in biopharmaceuticals including vaccines, biologics, medical devices and diagnostics to a level that will be globally competitive over the next decade (under i3 programme), the National Biopharma Mission (NBM) with the Funding from Department of Biotechnology (DBT) (Program co-funded by World Bank loan) and the Implementing agency Biotechnology Industry Research Assistance Council (BIRAC) has awarded a Medical technology and Rapid Prototyping facility to be established at Yenepoya (Deemed to be University).

This center will also address the gaps and the needs of medical device developers for testing/ verification/ rapid prototyping/ pilot batch production of medical devices. The purpose of this programme is to bring isolated centers of excellence together, enhance regional capabilities and strengthen the current bio-clusters network in terms of capacities as well as quantity and quality of output. Focussing on product development, the Mission will strengthen and create shared infrastructure for product development and validation of Centre of Excellence for knowledge generation and skill development for Technology Strengths and Technology Management.

This mission will develop platform technologies for product validation, link institutions to strengthen clinical trial networks, promote partial de-risking for novel products, and build capacities in emerging areas such as translational bioinformatics, bioethics, etc. This centre will serve as a platform which will offer buoyancy as well as universal support to biotechnological innovation, and transform India into a global hub for cutting-edge biotechnology research and development.

The Rapid Prototyping facility at Yenepoya will be used for producing prototypes of geometrical complexity in a relatively short time using the additive manufacturing approach and to build complex 3D models in medicine such as surgical fasteners, scalpels, retractors, display systems, among many others including bioprinting and organ printing. The applications in dental fields includes fabrication of implant surgical guides, frameworks for fixed and removable partial dentures, wax patterns for the dental prosthesis, and molds for metal castings, metal printing, and maxillofacial prosthesis and complete denture.

The prototyping technology is also used for designing specifically individualized products including hearing aid, biologically active implants and organs and such 3D model has some of the most reliable features, such as the transparency and developments in the color resins, to enable a clear differentiation of tumors and any other foreign growth in the bodies. The Bioprinting is a process where biomaterials such as cells and growth factors are combined to create tissue-like structures that imitate natural tissues. This is created using a bioink to create the tissue structures in a layer-by-layer manner. The technique is widely applicable to the fields of medicine and bioengineering. Recently, the technology has even made advancements in the production of cartilage tissue for use in reconstruction and regeneration and printing of Kidney and artificial organs. This process could also eradicate the headaches associated with organ donation and transplantation and pharmaceutical testing, and cosmetic surgery and meat production.

The facility is a part of Yenepoya Technology Incubator and is located at Yenepoya Research Centre, Yenepoya (Deemed to be University), Mangalore. This facility is open for all the innovators, start-ups, students and faculty, the University release said.