3D printing can also help make the difference during key moments in surgery. Doctors can scan the patient before the operation and create custom 3D printed models anatomical models to plan and practice for surgery.
For example, researchers at the University Hospital of Lübeck reduced risks during brain operations by using 3D printed arteries. Elsewhere, healthcare providers have doubled down on 3D printing to provide fast, realistic 3D surgical models.
In surgical cases, 3D printing is able to decisively augment existing physical practices—for instance, the less-precise use of cameras to assess the state of an organ in real time. By combining aspects of the digital workflow with the use of computer-aided engineering and data visualization, doctors were able to create these closely modeled objects, and work with new degrees of accuracy and care at the point of treatment.
3D printing has also made formerly impossible surgeries a reality. Replacing the upper jaw, forming a new skull and replacing cancerous vertebrae, all unthinkable before the advent of advanced 3D imaging and printing, have now been carried out successfully because of it.
A model of a patient’s foot, made to specification with 3D printing, used to help prepare physicians for complex cases.
Information contained within this page originally appeared on Formlabs.com