---
title: "NIHR grant funds new 3D printing lab at Sheffield Teaching Hospitals"
url: https://www.voxelmatters.com/nihr-grant-funds-new-3d-printing-lab-at-sheffield-teaching-hospitals/
date: 2026-07-18
modified: 2026-07-17
lang: en
author: "Joseph Caron-Dawe"
description: "A 3D printing lab producing medical models for surgical training, simulation and patient-specific anatomical modeling has opened at Sheffield Teaching Hospitals NHS Foundation Trust in the UK, funded through a..."
categories:
  - "Medical AM"
  - "Medical Research"
tags:
  - "future"
image: https://www.voxelmatters.com/wp-content/uploads/2026/07/Sheffield-3D-hospital-lab-01-640x369.jpg
word_count: 404
---

# NIHR grant funds new 3D printing lab at Sheffield Teaching Hospitals

[A 3D printing lab producing medical models for surgical training, simulation and patient-specific anatomical modeling](https://www.voxelmatters.com/chu-de-brest-uses-3d-printing-for-patient-specific-anatomic-models/) has opened at Sheffield Teaching Hospitals NHS Foundation Trust in the UK, funded through a wider National Institute for Health and Care Research (NIHR) infrastructure grant. 

The trust claims the facility houses some of the most advanced 3D printing capabilities for lifelike surgical models in the UK and reports that the technology is already helping to plan complex operations and supporting the training of new surgeons.

The lab houses high-precision digital anatomy printers and specialized design software that produces 3D models of human anatomy designed to look and feel like real bone and tissue.

![NIHR grant funds new 3D printing lab at Sheffield Teaching Hospitals](https://www.voxelmatters.com/wp-content/uploads/2026/07/Sheffield-3D-hospital-lab-02-340x196.jpg)

Using printing processes similar to traditional inkjet printing, the equipment produces surgical models across multiple materials, including materials with tissue-like properties, in a range of colors, replicating the density, texture and visual contrast of human tissue.

## Visualization tools support surgical planning

[The lab also incorporates 3D visualization tools that clinical teams are already using to plan and carry out complex surgical procedures](https://www.voxelmatters.com/researchers-3d-print-simulated-human-tissue-for-medical-training/) tailored to individual patient anatomies, including complex heart surgery days ahead of the operation itself.

Dr Pete Metherall, Clinical Scientist at Sheffield Teaching Hospitals NHS Foundation Trust, who led the lab's development, said: “We are extremely proud to unveil our new 3D printing lab. 3D printed surgical models provide trainees and surgeons with anatomically accurate, patient-specific replicas to practice on before the real thing, enhancing skills and confidence.

“Every person's anatomy is unique to them, so this technology also offers state-of-the-art conceptualization and planning, tailored to the patient's exact anatomy. As well as personalizing care, this 3D visualization can help improve outcomes, increase precision and reduce operating times by allowing teams to rehearse surgery using a lifelike model of the patient's tissue and organs days or weeks before the operation.

## NIHR-backed expansion and NHS collaboration

Dr Anna Hallam, Consultant Clinical Scientist at Sheffield Teaching Hospitals NHS Foundation Trust, said: “This unique facility puts Sheffield Teaching Hospitals at the forefront of 3D printing for clinical applications in the NHS. The project has been brilliantly led by Dr Pete Metherall, and I would like to say a big thank you to the nuclear medicine team, whose gracious relocation to the new nuclear medicine and molecular radiotherapy suite at Weston Park was vital in the lab's expansion.

“Further collaboration between the 3D lab team and our clinical engineers to advance 3D printing capability is also underway.”