Using 3-D printing technology, physicians can create models of patients’ bones, like skulls, based on MRI pictures. Using the printed models, physicians can form a more accurate treatment plan and even cut the model to see the most efficient, safest way to do a surgery.
“The ability to physically move…segments is huge,” John Meara, MD, a plastic and oral surgeon at Boston Children’s Hospital, told the NYT. “Otherwise, you’re doing it for the first time in the operating room.” Boston Children’s has its own 3-D printer that is “running nearly full time,” according to the report.
Frank Rybicki, MD, PhD, chief of medical imaging at Ottawa Hospital and a professor at the University of Ottawa, told the NYT 3-D printing is a game-changer for surgeons. “You have unprecedented surgical planning, and you have unprecedented accuracy.”
The ECRI Institute urged hospitals to take the following steps when looking into 3-D printing:
- Monitoring U.S. Food and Drug Administration regulations on 3-D printing in healthcare, “so your facility does not risk running afoul of regulations.”
- Form teams to stay current about 3-D printing advancements in specific clinical fields.
- Evaluate how feasible it would be to establish a 3-D printing program in the facility and what would make sense for a hospital’s patient population, like enhanced surgical planning or customized orthodics.
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