Dr Tim Brown, the Consultant Transplant Surgeon at Belfast City Hospital, is to take the stage at this year’s South by Southwest (SXSW) conference to share the story of how he used 3D printing technology to aid a complex and life-changing transplant on a young mother.

Delegates will hear the story of a patient, who needed a life-saving kidney donation; Her father, who was willing to donate but had a tumour on his kidney; and the technology that made it possible to conduct the transplant safely.

Dr Brown is joined on 12th March by Daniel Crawford, CEO of Belfast-based axial3D (The firm that created the 3D model), Cathy Coomber, Operations Manager at axial3D, and Nigel McAlpine, Immersive Technology Lead at Digital Catapult NI who will share their experience on how the operation was made possible.

Speaking on how the 3D printed model aided the surgery, Dr Brown said “As the cyst was buried deep within the renal cortex and therefore invisible on the back bench, a replica 3D model was used for preoperative planning and intra-operative localisation of the lesion. It’s difficult to underestimate how valuable this strategy was in terms of preoperative planning and achieving successful clearance of the lesion.”

The panel discussion is also set to explore the future of 3D printing, automation and machine learning for use in medicine. axial3D is investing heavily to include Artificial Intelligence within modules in the firm’s latest solution, axial3Dassure. Doing this, the firm aims to eliminate labour intensive and complex tasks involved in creating 3D printed models from 2D scans.

Delegates can meet Dr Brown and the rest of the panel at their session, ‘Tumours, Transplants & Technology: AI For Life’ on 12th March 2019 at SXSW, JW Marriott Salon FG in Austin, Texas.