As healthcare budgets are under pressure and both hospitals and doctors desire to improve efficiency, we have included cost and cost effectiveness as variables in the analysis. We attempted to identify domains and usages where the technology is fairly common or has been used several times, and to report its potential advantages and disadvantages. This article gives an overview of the current usage of 3D-printing techniques in human medicine, more specifically surgery, based on a systematic literature review using three major literature databases. The growing surgical applications of 3D printing have made it interesting to analyze the current implementation of this new technology. The need for improved visualization and surgical outcomes has given rise to 3D-printed anatomical models, patient-specific guides, and 3D-printed prosthetics. Additionally, anatomical defects can require custom prosthetics to repair damage as accurately as possible. In some cases, this guidance requires substantial amounts of ionizing radiation and can heavily increase surgical time. 3D-printed objects can be used to study complex cases, to practice procedures, and to teach students and patients.įurthermore, some current surgical procedures are complex and require guidance to avoid damaging essential parts of the body, or to obtain an acceptable esthetic outcome. The recent emergence of three-dimensional renderings of CT, MR, plain radiography, and echo imagery has improved visualization of complex pathologies but lacks tactile qualities. This requires excellent visualization skills from the surgeon. In medicine, the technology has applications in orthopedics, spinal surgery, maxillofacial surgery, neurosurgery, and cardiac surgery, amongst various other disciplines.ĭoctors mostly work with two-dimensional X-ray images or two-dimensional images obtained from computed tomography (CT) or magnetic resonance (MR) scans to gain insight into pathologies. It has revolutionized prototyping and found applications in many nonmedical fields. 3D printing allows three-dimensional renderings to be realized as physical objects with the use of a printer. 3D printing has become more important in recent decades.
0 Comments
Leave a Reply. |
AuthorWrite something about yourself. No need to be fancy, just an overview. ArchivesCategories |