ECG recordings for patients are made using a device with ten cables, each about a meter long. Every time you want to use the device, you first have to untangle the cables. This wastes time that you would rather spend with your patient.

There must be a better way, says nurse Dion Smit from Orthopedics, Plastic Surgery, and Sports Medicine. He submits the question to the studio. Studio coordinator Daniel Karsten: "We check whether the question falls within the scope of the studio. If not, we try to refer the questioner to the right person or place."

The people from the Verbeterde Zorg Studio visit the department to find out exactly what the question entails and explain their working method.

Is there perhaps already a solution to this question somewhere? This is investigated by the studio's market research team, which represents a range of expertise. The team also looks at other aspects, such as sustainability.

If there are indeed no existing solutions, MedTech's Prototyping & Development department gets involved. They consider the question: is this a problem we can solve? What about legislation and regulations, for example?

If the Prototyping & Development department gives the green light, the studio outsources the assignment to one of the schools with which it collaborates. Students from the Amsterdam University of Applied Sciences, Delft University of Technology, and the Leiden Instrument Makers School, among others, can then apply for the project.

The study coordinators are keen to have students from different programs work together so that they can learn from each other. A Win-win situation!

The students develop a prototype. In this case, it was the ECG block: you simply slide the block over the cables and they are untangled.

There are two options for the working prototype: (1) Is the application suitable for hospital-wide use? If so, the studio will allocate a budget for implementation. (2) If it is an innovation that can be used by one or more departments, the studio will investigate where it can be produced and what the costs will be for the department(s) concerned. The latter applies to the ECG block; it is now in use in the relevant department.

The innovation will also be made available to other hospitals through the Dutch Nursing Network for Healthcare Innovation.

The idea originated in 2016 around the publication of the 3D Embryo Atlas in Science (PMID: 27884980). The dream: to make embryology simpler and more attractive for students, researchers, and clinicians.

Initially, De Bakker and her research group tried to develop apps themselves, but this proved too costly and complex: different platforms, heavy 3D content, and a lot of maintenance.

A breakthrough comes when Primal Pictures shows interest in licensing the atlas. That platform reaches medical training programs worldwide. This allows the content to be scaled up without the researchers having to become an IT company themselves.

At the same time, they also want to make physical 3D models available. In 2017, they win the Amsterdam Science & Innovation Award with their idea to print embryos in full-color sandstone. But those models are too fragile for large-scale use.

Years later, an unexpected collaboration offered a solution: the German company CIRP, known for industrial 3D printing, had a robust printing technique and approached Bernadette de Bakker and her team to build a bridge to medical applications. Together, they spent years testing different materials and production techniques.

After many modifications, the models are finally sturdy and durable enough for educational use. Since 2025, they have been available through 3DEmbryoPrints.com – and are used from India to Brazil and from the US to China.

They receive support mainly from IXA's business developers and colleagues at Legal Research Support. Although concluding cooperation agreements often takes a lot of time, De Bakker believes that there is still room for improvement as an institute.

Through license revenues from Primal Pictures and the sale of 3D prints, they achieve valorisation: their research results directly contribute to better education and public communication about embryology – worldwide. All proceeds also flow directly back to the research group, enabling them to finance new research and keep the cycle of innovation and valorisation going.

In 2021, Vice Dean Christa Boer developed the campaign #Zou ik wat zeggen? to encourage people to report inappropriate behavior and make it a topic of discussion. This campaign was directly linked to current events in society: internationally, the #metoo movement had gained considerable momentum. In the Netherlands, research by (among others) advocacy group De Geneeskundestudent indicates that many medical students and interns are confronted with sexual harassment.

The campaign starts with a PDF to distribute to students. But if you really want to make an impact, you need an app. The Faculty of Medicine is therefore seeking collaboration with an external app developer: Fris Media.

During development, great attention was paid to confidentiality and anonymity. The faculty, the app developer, and the IT department of Amsterdam UMC are working together on this, together with the data protection officer.

Publicity greatly helps with dissemination outside the walls of Amsterdam UMC. A certain momentum is created: it is the time of #metoo and, just after the launch of the app, Tim Hoffman comes out with his BOOS broadcast about The Voice. Thanks in part to their own press releases, Christa Boer and 'her' app receive a lot of media attention. This publicity leads to many requests to the faculty.

The app has now been handed over to the app developer. They are further developing the app and providing maintenance and updates based on a subscription model. "It's great to see that an initiative developed in education can have such a societal impact," says communications advisor Marlies Eijsink. "It was a very educational process. If we were to develop something else, we could put these experiences to good use."