There Is a Great Future in Plastics: Personalized Approach to the Management of Hilar Cholangiocarcinoma Using a 3-D-Printed Liver Model

Abstract

In recent years, three-dimensional (3-D) printing technology has become a standard tool that is used in several medical applications such as education, surgical training simulation and planning, and doctor-patient communication. Although liver surgery is ideally complemented by the use of pre-operative 3-D-printed models, only a few publications have addressed this topic. We report the case of a 29-year old Caucasian woman admitted for a Klatskin tumor infiltrating the right portal vein requiring surgery that required complex vascular reconstruction. A life-sized liver model with colorful plastic vessels and realistic looking tumor was created with the aim of planning an optimal surgical approach. According to the 3-

Three-Dimensional Printed Liver Models for Surgical Planning and Intraoperative Guidance of Liver Cancer Resection: A Systematic Review

“…It is currently not possible to generalise findings to inform 3DPLM-LCR practice; however, clear themes emerge in this review that may have explanatory power concerning 3DPLMs' utility in LCR, which may motivate future research efforts to rigorously evaluate the impact of 3DPLMs on LCR patients' outcomes. The 16 criteria listed above were scored for each article based on the degree to which that article met those criteria, as outlined by Sirriyeh et al [40]. 0 = Not at all, 1 = Very slightly, 2 = Moderately, 3 = Completely.…”

“…These articles' references were examined to identify five secondary articles [12,14,[37][38][39]. One further article was identified serendipitously during a manual search [40]. Altogether, 22 articles were identified for inclusion in the review (Figure 1).…”

“…Thirteen articles (59.1%) reported that 3DPLMs enhanced surgical planning for LCR [11,[13][14][15][16][17]19,22,29,[31][32][33]40]. Seven of these articles were original research studies [11,[15][16][17]19,29,31]; however, only two examined actual LCR cases [17,19].…”

Essential updates 2020/2021: Current topics of simulation and navigation in hepatectomy

“…The merits of the application of XR techniques to surgical support include no need for a sterilized display monitor, better spatial awareness, and the ability to share 3D images among all surgeons. 24 XR techniques are applied to preoperative planning or visualization of vessels in liver surgery, 25 , 26 , 27 and XR images are suitable for clinical presentation because of their sharing function. Huettl et al 25 compared 3D printed liver models and VR liver models and concluded that 3D VR liver models enable a better and partially faster anatomical orientation than 3D printed liver models.…”

“…Especially in VR, the surgeons can be immersed in the patient's own liver. The merits of the application of XR techniques to surgical support include no need for a sterilized display monitor, better spatial awareness, and the ability to share 3D images among all surgeons 24 . XR techniques are applied to preoperative planning or visualization of vessels in liver surgery, 25‐27 and XR images are suitable for clinical presentation because of their sharing function.…”