Founded a decade ago by Wesly Jacobs, Dimitri Buytaert, Pieter De Backer, and Tim Martens, PrintPlace has grown into a product developer with extensive experience in accessible custom projects.
Over the years, we have witnessed the company deliver services across the fashion, art, and other industries. The next chapter of this journey will be dedicated to healthcare 3D printing as the company found a new home on the Moorselbaan campus, giving AZORG Hospitals the opportunity to take the lead on point-of-care medical 3D printing in the Belgian market.
At its new headquarters on the Moorselbaan campus, PrintPlace boasts advanced 3D visualization tools, 3D scanners, and around thirty 3D printers.
“The greatest added value lies in the preliminary process: co-creating a solution, engineering, design, testing, and fine-tuning,” says Jacobs. “In recent years, we’ve developed several customized solutions for services like Cardiology and Vascular Surgery. By being physically present within AZORG, we can now go through that process together with healthcare providers, in direct consultation and close to the patient.”
This proximity allows us to adapt even more quickly and develop solutions that not only perfectly match specific healthcare needs, but can also be quickly tested and implemented in practice. In this way, AZORG offers a complete one-stop shop: from concept and visualization to prototype and, if desired, to production in small and medium-sized series, the founders explain.
A first tangible result of this approach is an innovative project within the Urology department, led by Dr. Geert De Naeyer. In collaboration with PrintPlace, a new guidance tool for prostate punctures was developed, with the aim of working more accurately, efficiently, and in a more patient-friendly way.
“In our daily practice, we encountered the limitations of existing tools. They were expensive, not always available, or didn’t fully meet our needs. By developing this tool together, we can work much more effectively. We are currently in the patient testing phase, and the initial results are promising”, Dr. Geert De Naeyer, urologist at AZORG, comments.
This project demonstrates that customized solutions, developed within the hospital context itself, can have a direct impact on diagnosis and treatment, thus benefiting the patient.
Update, June 2026: Since this article was published, Dr. Geert De Naeyer has confirmed his participation as a panelist in the next Additive Talks session ‘The Path to Clinical Scale: What It Really Takes to Deploy AM in Healthcare,‘ on July 1st. He will share a practitioner-driven perspective the session aims to highlight.
THE 3D ADEPT WEEKLY NEWSLETTER
The industry moves fast. Stay ahead.
Every week, the latest additive manufacturing news, in-depth features and real-world applications, straight to your inbox. Plus, be the first to know when a new issue of 3D ADEPT Mag is out.
Free · One email a week · Unsubscribe anytime
Clicking loads our email provider’s sign-up form, including its analytics and Google’s anti-bot protection. You’re only subscribed if you complete the sign-up. Read our privacy policy.