Associate Professor Purdue University West Lafayette, Indiana
Three-dimensional (3D) printing or additive manufacturing, previously known as rapid prototyping, is becoming increasingly popular in veterinary medicine. As medical 3D printing gain popularity, various uses of 3D printing to improve patient care have been reported.
This lecture introduces typical steps of clinical use of 3D printing from volumetric medical imaging, segmentation and preparation for 3D printing, major changes to the models to facilitate a patient-specific intervention, 3D Printing and post-processing to clinical application of printed models and devices.
The lecture also categorized Medical 3D printing into 3 groups according to the purposes of its use and introduced examples from current literature in veterinary surgery. Group 1. Anatomical models: These are replicas of anatomy without alteration; Group 2. Modified anatomical models with significant alteration of anatomy to facilitate surgical planning or other intervention; Group 3. Virtual surgical planning with templates.
Finally, types of 3D printers commonly used for anatomical modeling and medical device will be introduced.