Three-dimensional (3D) printing is a rapidly evolving technology with several
potential applications in the diagnosis and management of cardiac disease. Recently,
3D printing (i.e. rapid prototyping) derived from 3D transesophageal echocardiography
(TEE) has become possible. Due to the multiple steps involved and the specific
equipment required for each step, it might be difficult to start implementing
echocardiography-derived 3D printing in a clinical setting. In this review, we
provide an overview of this process, including its logistics and organization of
tools and materials, 3D TEE image acquisition strategies, data export, format
conversion, segmentation, and printing. Generation of patient-specific models of
cardiac anatomy from echocardiographic data is a feasible, practical application of
3D printing technology.