3D Printing in Medicine for Preoperative Surgical Planning: A Review

Abstract

The aim of this paper is to review the recent evolution of Additive Manufacturing (AM) within the medical field of preoperative surgical planning. The discussion begins with an overview of the different techniques, pointing out their advantages and disadvantages as well as an in-depth comparison of different characteristics of the printed parts. Then, the state-of-the-art with respect to preoperative surgical planning is presented. On the one hand, different surgical planning prototypes manufactured by several AM technologies are described. On the other hand, materials used for mimicking different living tissues are explored by focusing on the material properties: elastic modulus, hardness, etc. As a result, doctors can practice before performing surgery and thereby reduce the time needed for the operation. The subject of patient education is also introduced. A thorough review of the process that is required to obtain 3D Printed surgical planning prototypes, which is based on different stages, is then carried out. Finally, the ethical issues associated with 3D printing in medicine are discussed, along with its future perspectives. Overall, this is important for improving the outcome of the surgery, since doctors will be able to visualize the affected organs and even to practice surgery before performing it.

Development of AM Technologies for Metals in the Sector of Medical Implants

“…An example of a machine using this technology is the Studio System of Desktop Metal, Burlingtion, MA, US. It has the following characteristics: speed up to 12,000 cm 3 /h, build volume of 490 × 380 × 260 mm 3 , and a resolution of ≤50 µm voxels. Additionally, it has a bi-directional printing system [23].…”

“…On the one hand, SLM 125 has a build volume of 125 × 125 × 125 mm 3 and a printing speed of 25 cm 3 /h. On the other hand, SLM 280 2.0 has a build volume of 280 × 280 × 365 mm 3 and a printing speed of 113 cm 3 /h. These latter values depend on the materials and part geometry.…”

“…On the one hand, INTEGREX i-400 AM is a five-axis multi-tasking machine and it is used for 3D printing of materials which are difficult to be machined [44]. On the other hand, DMD 503D/505D has a build volume of 1590 × 1400 × 1470 mm 3 and a position accuracy of 0.03 mm [45].…”

“…Moreover, this technology could offer several significant advances: • Creation of ideal products. Polymers are common in different medical applications such as tissue engineering [2], and the manufacture of surgical planning prototypes [3][4][5][6][7] and scaffolds [8]. Ceramic materials have also been employed in scaffolds [9].…”

Three‐dimensional printing: The potential technology widely used in medical fields

“…3D printing technology can be used to make simulation models of different organs and lesions, present the details of the internal structure of organs or lesions to surgeons realistically, and make the operation “repetitive” (Tejo‐Otero, Buj‐Corral, & Fenollosa‐Artes, 2019). Surgeons can make a patient model, to observe the patient's internal structure, practice many times before the real operation (Anonymous, 2017).…”