Source: El Mercurio
They develop physical clinical simulators that allow training of medical skills before treating a real patient. They sell mainly to universities, even as far as the USA.
Practice suturing techniques, wound cleaning or procedures that save a patient’s life. These are some of the trainings made possible by Plan 3D, a Chilean company that creates physical clinical simulators (“task trainers”) that allow training medical skills before treating a real patient, and reduce possible errors when faced with a real scenario.
“We have a catalog of around 30 products that we sell mainly to universities. Teachers at these institutions train their students through clinical simulation using our task trainers or skills simulators,” explains Carolina Chávez, co-founder and CEO of Plan 3D. The designer and master in design says that it all started when she and her partner, Cristián Navarro -co-founder and director of operations-, were young teachers at the School of Design of the PUCV, and began to experiment with new 3D manufacturing technologies. “At that time, my father, who is a physician, approached me to ask me to build in 3D an organ of the digestive system called the ‘bile duct.’ At that point, experimentation began, and we realized that there was a great need to simulate surgeries or surgical techniques in many areas of healthcare,” explains the CEO.
Thus, in 2017, they applied for a Corfo fund that allowed them to set up the company, test, validate the idea from a technical and commercial point of view. Since that year, they began to offer simulators for surgery planning and training.
They already operate in Chile, Latin America and North America. With participation in the IMSH medical simulation fair – and also with the help of ProChile, they point out – they have been able to internationalize their startup, which is based in Viña del Mar.
“Abroad, we have acquired very important customers, as we have participated two years in a row in the world’s largest simulation congress in the USA. Last year we sold to Columbia University, Florida International University, and this year we have sold to the University of California San Diego and the University of South Florida,” says Navarro. They even made it to Amazon USA last year.
In July, they entered into an agreement with a major distributor of medical simulators operating in more than 100 countries, called 3B Scientific. In addition, they were selected in Start-Up Chile. Its objective now is to grow sales in Chile and in the North American market, in addition to strengthening the alliance with its new distributor.
