Case Study: Nationwide Children's Hospital advances RSV vaccine research with 3D Systems' full-color 3D printing

Nationwide Children’s Hospital, Research Institute Develops New Theories on Viral Therapies with 3D Printed Proteins

Nationwide Children’s Hospital Research Institute, led by Dr. William C. Ray at The Battelle Center for Mathematical Medicine, confronted the challenge of understanding Respiratory Syncytial Virus (RSV), a widespread and costly pathogen with no approved vaccine. Researchers needed clearer insight into the virus’s fusion (F) protein—whose unclear structure and mechanism have impeded vaccine development—to break longstanding scientific dead-ends.

The team used a full‑color ZPrinter from 3D Systems to turn computational models of the F protein into tangible, full‑color 3D prints. Physically examining these models produced new intuitions, helped debunk misleading hypotheses, and materially advanced research progress—while highlighting the importance of recognizing uncertainties in modeled regions—demonstrating the practical value of color 3D printing for biomedical discovery.

Nationwide Children’s Hospital

William C. Ray

Principal Investigator and Faculty Member