Research Computing Services Blog

3D Printing and the Future of Medicine

By Jas Coles-Black

Jas Coles-Black is a final year medical student, and a Research Community Coordinator at Research Platforms Services at The University of Melbourne where she grows her community in medical 3D printing. As part of the #3DMed initiative, she is an avid proponent of 3D printing in the medical space.

What is 3D printing?

3D printing is a broad term used to describe several additive manufacturing techniques, where structures are built by depositing material layer by layer. This is in contrast to more traditional manufacturing techniques, which involve moulding and manipulating the materials of interest. It has been hailed as “the next industrial revolution” that could fundamentally change the status quo, and the way we practise medicine.

Image source: http://www.stratasys.com/j750

Bioprinting and Regenerative Medicine

Bioprinting is one aspect of 3D printing, and involves combining living cells, biocompatible materials and biochemical substances in order to create tissue-like analogues. This enables the creation of biological and organ substitutes for research and clinical purposes, such as the fabrication of artificial organs for transplantation. 3D printing has been used in regenerative medicine not only to print scaffolds, which can be subsequently seeded with cells, but can also involve printing tissues using actual cells.

Being able to print human tissue is viewed by many as the holy grail of 3D printing. It would bypass current limitations of organ transplantation, such as the scarcity of donor organs, the need for lifelong immunosuppression and the potential for organ rejection, giving it enormous potential to save lives and transform transplant medicine. Be that as it may, the improvements that have already been made with current 3D printing technology are impressive and wide-ranging, and should not be discounted.

The Developing Future of Medicine

3D printing is everywhere. It’s already being used extensively by academic institutions and research laboratories, and 3D printers can even be found in Aldi, for as little as $500. Its widespread availability to the public is perhaps the true litmus test for how mainstream the technology has become.

Over the past three years, there has been an explosion of interest in medical 3D printing across many disciplines, with hospitals and universities establishing institutional hubs and pursuing collaborations with industry leaders. Whilst it is yet to truly become part of mainstream medicine, its use is rapidly increasing.

The true strength of 3D printing lies in its ability to revolutionise personalised medicine. 3D models can be generated from patient scans, allowing surgeons a novel method to both visualise and manually interrogate a patient’s anatomy prior to surgery. These models are also fantastic tools in patient education, and go a long way to helping patients understand their disease when compared to two dimensional drawings.

Image source: Author’s Own

Titanium 3D printed prostheses, specific to each individual patient’s anatomy, can also be used to provide each patient with a perfect fit.

Yet another use is the development of patient-specific surgical instruments. On-demand 3D printing of surgical instruments is being explored in conflict zones, and even long-duration space missions.

Of course, the technology is not just confined to the surgical specialties. 3D printed tablets and drug delivery systems are the next step in the development of personalised medicines. Multi-drug polypills with individualised dosing and separate release profiles could be used to aid complex treatment regimens and improve patient adherence.

As futuristic as they may sound, these fundamental changes to how we practise medicine aren’t as far away as we might think. The FDA recently approved a 3D printed levetiracetam pill, printed with a drug which is already used for seizures.

Image source: Aprecia Pharmaceuticals

Simulation models with various pathologies can also be created from suitable patient scans, allowing specialty trainees the opportunity to practise complex procedures the entire way through, rather than attempting the procedure for the first time on a real patient with real stakes.

In forensic medicine, 3D printed representations of injuries are more easily understood by laypeople for use in court, maintaining the dignity of the deceased whilst providing an excellent, less confronting representation of the deceased’s anatomical structures and injuries.

Generating Models for 3D Printing

Patient specific models are readily generated using well-established radiographic techniques such as CT and MRI. In this respect, 3D models of patient anatomy are the natural extension of our current imaging processes. The data from these scans can be used to create an initial digital model of patient anatomy, and the resulting file can then be 3D printed using a variety of machines.

Image source: Author’s Own

In short, 3D printing could very well be shaping up to be the future of medicine. The current applications of 3D printing in the medical field are promising, and the scenarios mentioned above could one day be the norm. Despite all this, 3D printing in the medical field is still very much in its infancy, and only time will tell if this new technology will truly become a revolutionary one.

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