Brisbane based medical device company, Oventus Medical launched their new Victorian 3D printing facility at CSIRO on 8 December.
The additive manufacturing plant that uses titanium 3D printing technology to produce the customised O2Vent sleep apnoea device, is located at CSIRO’s Clayton site adjacent to their Lab 22 additive manufacturing centre.
The state-of-the-art facility is the next step in Oventus’ successful collaboration with CSIRO that has seen an initial R&D project develop into an ongoing beneficial partnership.
The Minister for Innovation, Industry and Science, the Hon Greg Hunt released a video message to applaud the opening of the Oventus 3D titantium printing facility. Click below to view the Hon Greg Hunt MP’s message.
This valuable collaboration between Australian researchers and industry is paving the way for innovation in 3D design and production processes, as well as the treatment of obstructive sleep apnoea (OSA) and snoring.
Research Director of CSIRO Manufacturing, Dr Keith McLean attributes the science organisation’s unique multidisciplinary capabilities for the speedy delivery of the Oventus project.
“Combining our research team’s additive manufacturing experience with the software capabilities of CSIRO’s Data61, meant we could create a one stop in-house process for making personalised mouth pieces that are individualised for each Oventus customer,” Dr McLean said.
“Additionally, we have been able to help Oventus upscale their manufacturing process to allow large volume manufacturing of the devices at the Clayton facility.”
Oventus founder, Dr Chris Hart, agrees that his business has enjoyed a productive partnership with the research body, taking advantage of CSIRO’s cutting edge capability in both the additive manufacturing and computational modelling space.
“CSIRO were able to help us not only develop the 3D printing process, but also create the crucial software needed to design the individual devices,” Dr Hart said.
“Because a patient’s bite is as individual as his fingerprint, we needed special software to help us create a perfectly customised O2Vent from a patient’s dental imprints.”
The O2Vent works by delivering air to the back of the mouth, alleviating multiple sites of obstruction including the nose, soft palate and tongue.
Oventus recently listed on the ASX following a successful IPO raising $12 million and is well on track to drive meaningful revenue growth in FY17 and beyond.
Oventus is set to launch onto the US market in early 2017, where over 37 million people regularly suffer from snoring.
About Oventus
Oventus Medical is an Australia medical device company that develop innovative solutions for the treatment of snoring and obstructive sleep apnoea (OSA). Our mission is to be a global leader in the treatment of snoring and OSA with an initial focus on those that cannot tolerate, or are not treated effectively with existing treatments.
Unlike other oral appliances, the Oventus devices have a unique and patented airway within the device that delivers air to the back of the mouth whilst alleviating multiple sites of obstruction including the nose, soft palate and tongue.
They are particularly designed for the many people that have nasal obstructions and consequently tend to mainly breathe through their mouth. While it may seem counterintuitive, the device actually prevents oral breathing. The O2VentTMT is designed to allow nasal breathing when the nose is unobstructed, but when obstruction is present, breathing is supplemented via the airways in the appliance.
According to a report published by the Sleep Health Foundation Australia, an estimated 1.5 million Australians suffer with sleep disorders and more than half of these suffer with obstructive sleep apnoea.1 Continuous positive airway pressure (CPAP) is the most definitive medical therapy for obstructive sleep apnoea, OSA, however many patients have difficulty tolerating CPAP2. Oral appliances have emerged as an alternative to CPAP for obstructive sleep apnoea treatment.3
The unique patented airway enables future development of new treatment options such as a CPAP connection, a boil-and-bite temporary device and the COMBIBITE – designed for dentists to record bite registrations and dental impressions using one device.
1 Deloitte Access Economics. Reawakening Australia: the economic cost of sleep disorders in Australia, 2010. Canberra, Australia.
2 Beecroft, et al. Oral continuous positive airway pressure for sleep apnea; effectiveness, patient preference, and adherence. Chest 124:2200–2208, 2003
3 Sutherland et al. Oral appliance treatment for obstructive sleep apnea: An updated Journal of Clinical Sleep Medicine. February 2014.
Source: Oventus
