The 3D Printing technology is a relatively modern technology, which since its appearance in 1983, had an important and constant development. In the past decade 3D printing became more and more integrated in different areas of expertise, particularly due to an increasing level of accessibility by decreasing the prices of 3d printing machines and also due to the expansion of what used to be a niche market for 3d printing materials. Thus, 3D printing quickly became a powerful tool for areas such as medicine, automotive, airspace industry, product design, weapons industry, etc. This article approaches the role and evolution of 3D printing in medicine and how this technology is set to revolutionize medical practice by pushing it further and further, in order to reach the ideal personalized, predictive and increase safety medical treatment.

The evolution of modern medicine, in its continuous developing process, is highly connected with the progress achieved in the medical branch of technology. Regarding the surgical specialties, the technological progress breakthroughs may determine the appearance of new diagnosis techniques, but also shape innovative treatments, leading to superior therapeutic results. In the surgical treatment as a whole, an essential role is played by the Medical Imagistics. They either offer the much-needed visual support in order to reach an accurate diagnosis, or guide the surgeon in choosing a certain type of intervention. The importance of Imagistics is indisputable. It has also been proven so in intraoperatory guidance and monitoring the patient in post-surgery. In the evolution of medical Imagistics, after the transition to digital imaging, followed by graphic 3D reconstructions based on CT and MRI data, we find ourselves contemporary with a new turning point announcing a technological revolution: the transition from virtual 3D models to tangible 3D replica. Since the beginning, the 3D printing technology has been of great importance to the field of medical research and, once the technique gained popularity, it became a modern tool for many medical specialties, in particular for cranio-maxillofacial surgery, orthopedics, oncology, neurosurgery. The 3D printing technology managed to transgress dated barriers by facilitating the manufacturing of implants or implement new treatments in regenerative medicine. The purpose of this original paper is to present our 3D printing work protocol and general conclusions after 5 years of implementing 3D printing in pediatric orthopedics.