3D printing-a manufacturing technique by which objects are built from digital data in a way analogous to how computer text is printed on a page-has captured the imagination of many with its potential to offer flexible, inexpensive manufacturing for widespread use. 3D printers have been used to build everything from rockets to houses to guns to other 3D printers, their capabilities limited only by access to a low-cost 3D printers, a set of digital blueprints, and some ingenuity.
3D printing aficionados now include physicians, medical researchers, and patients, many of whom are beginning to explore what this technology might mean for health and health care. While not a panacea, 3D printing is increasingly finding its place in patient care, from its expanding use in surgical planning to the vision of printing whole new organs for transplantation (Video).
What Is 3D Printing?
Once a niche tool for industrial prototyping, 3D printing technology is based on the concept of "additive" manufacturing-that is, 3D printing builds structures by depositing material layer by layer. This is in contrast to Indeed, 3D printing may serve as a means of distributing manufacturing in the same way that the Internet distributes information.
Standard manufacturing techniques, which often rely on creating structures by cutting, molding, or otherwise manipulating raw materials. As a consequence, 3D printing is flexible and can create myriad structures in a variety of materials, in nearly any shape or size, 3D printing serves as a bridge between digital 3D models and the physical world.
Digital models can be widely distributed and modified, democratizing manufacturing in a way not previously imagined. Large communities with vast and varied interests have formed around sharing the digital data used to print models: one site, for example, contains more than 100 000 digital models of all kinds, which users can freely download and print.
These communities have been empowered by the emergence of low-cost consumer-grade machines that have made 3D printers broadly available. New applications for 3D printing continue to appear every day: artisans now create individualized jewelry on demand, and maintenance workers can print replacement parts for household devices. Indeed, 3D printing may serve as a means of distributing manufacturing in the same way that the Internet distributes information.
3D Printing in Today's (and Tomorrow's) Medical Practice
Although 3D printing applications in medicine are increasing rapidly, its application in dentistry has been established for more than a decade, allowing rapid fabrication of molds for many common dental implants. More recently, head and neck surgeons have used 3D printing to provide preoperative models for complex surgeries. For example, several facial reconstructive surgeries are performed by first harvesting the fibula, which is then fashioned in the operating room into new bony structures. These surgeries can now be augmented using computer-planning programs to generate surgical plans that determine the ideal may to harvest and incise the fibula to create a reconstructive graft. 3D-printed models translate preoperative imaging data into useful tools that may help surgeons both reduce operating room time and potentially improve surgical results.
In addition, using models based on imaging of real-world patients, 3D printing can be a useful tool in the instruction of normal and pathologic anatomy. For instance, at our institution, the use of 3D models to educate trainees about complex traumatic bony fracture patterns is being explored. These models may also be used to communicate imaging studies to patients in a tangible, easy-to-understand format.
Printing Devices, Cells, and Organs
Outside the clinic and operating room, researchers are using 3D printers to reshape health care. The flexibility of 3D printing allows investigators and manufacturers to create medical devices with a broad range of biological imaging, this flexibility may be leveraged to fabricate devices tailored to an individual patient's anatomy in a way similar to how "omics" data are applied to create personalized therapeutics. For example, a customized polymer splint has been used to prevent airway collapse in neonatal bronchomalacia. This splint was composed of a biocompatible polymer, designed to be naturally resorbed within 3 years, and was specifically tailored to the neonate's anatomy using 3D imaging.
Bioengineering researchers have begun to expand the range of printed materials to biological scaffolds
3D printing-a manufacturing technique by which objects are built from digital data in a way analogous to how computer text is printed on a page-has captured the imagination of many with its potential to offer flexible, inexpensive manufacturing for widespread use. 3D printers have been used to build everything from rockets to houses to guns to other 3D printers, their capabilities limited only by access to a low-cost 3D printers, a set of digital blueprints, and some ingenuity.3D printing aficionados now include physicians, medical researchers, and patients, many of whom are beginning to explore what this technology might mean for health and health care. While not a panacea, 3D printing is increasingly finding its place in patient care, from its expanding use in surgical planning to the vision of printing whole new organs for transplantation (Video).What Is 3D Printing?Once a niche tool for industrial prototyping, 3D printing technology is based on the concept of "additive" manufacturing-that is, 3D printing builds structures by depositing material layer by layer. This is in contrast to Indeed, 3D printing may serve as a means of distributing manufacturing in the same way that the Internet distributes information.Standard manufacturing techniques, which often rely on creating structures by cutting, molding, or otherwise manipulating raw materials. As a consequence, 3D printing is flexible and can create myriad structures in a variety of materials, in nearly any shape or size, 3D printing serves as a bridge between digital 3D models and the physical world.Digital models can be widely distributed and modified, democratizing manufacturing in a way not previously imagined. Large communities with vast and varied interests have formed around sharing the digital data used to print models: one site, for example, contains more than 100 000 digital models of all kinds, which users can freely download and print.These communities have been empowered by the emergence of low-cost consumer-grade machines that have made 3D printers broadly available. New applications for 3D printing continue to appear every day: artisans now create individualized jewelry on demand, and maintenance workers can print replacement parts for household devices. Indeed, 3D printing may serve as a means of distributing manufacturing in the same way that the Internet distributes information.3D Printing in Today's (and Tomorrow's) Medical PracticeAlthough 3D printing applications in medicine are increasing rapidly, its application in dentistry has been established for more than a decade, allowing rapid fabrication of molds for many common dental implants. More recently, head and neck surgeons have used 3D printing to provide preoperative models for complex surgeries. For example, several facial reconstructive surgeries are performed by first harvesting the fibula, which is then fashioned in the operating room into new bony structures. These surgeries can now be augmented using computer-planning programs to generate surgical plans that determine the ideal may to harvest and incise the fibula to create a reconstructive graft. 3D-printed models translate preoperative imaging data into useful tools that may help surgeons both reduce operating room time and potentially improve surgical results.In addition, using models based on imaging of real-world patients, 3D printing can be a useful tool in the instruction of normal and pathologic anatomy. For instance, at our institution, the use of 3D models to educate trainees about complex traumatic bony fracture patterns is being explored. These models may also be used to communicate imaging studies to patients in a tangible, easy-to-understand format.Printing Devices, Cells, and OrgansOutside the clinic and operating room, researchers are using 3D printers to reshape health care. The flexibility of 3D printing allows investigators and manufacturers to create medical devices with a broad range of biological imaging, this flexibility may be leveraged to fabricate devices tailored to an individual patient's anatomy in a way similar to how "omics" data are applied to create personalized therapeutics. For example, a customized polymer splint has been used to prevent airway collapse in neonatal bronchomalacia. This splint was composed of a biocompatible polymer, designed to be naturally resorbed within 3 years, and was specifically tailored to the neonate's anatomy using 3D imaging.Bioengineering researchers have begun to expand the range of printed materials to biological scaffolds
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