3D printing for medical applications is impossible without a Technical Physician

Publication date: 2020-12-28
Medical 3D printing is an emerging technological field that can have absolute added value in the preparation of a complex surgical treatment, but also certainly for training of medical specialists, nurse practitioners and nurses. By using the 3D models, patient-specific anatomical features can be made transparent.
See also our article: Surgically treat patients with an aneurysm faultless when using 3D models.

The innovations with the use of 3D printers in healthcare are currently very fast. The advantage is that the medical sector can benefit from many years of innovations in 3D printing technology from other industries. The use of this 3D printing technology will create many new innovative solutions for medical applications. How soon will we notice these innovations? Interestingly, the concept of 3D printing originated in the 1980s and has been used ever since. Because the technology became better and cheaper after 2000, the 3D printing technology only started to become seriously interesting. Because the medical sector is traditionally conservative, interest in 3D printing technology in medical applications was not seen until much later. 3D printing really came into the picture around 2018.

For the hobbiest, a 3D printed model will of course quickly look fantastic, however in the medical sector there are of course many other aspects involved. Although it depends on the medical application for which the 3D models are used, the accuracy of the 3D printed model will be important, as well as which material will be used. For example, is it necessary for the 3D printed model to be sterilized?

What is described above, is actually only about the properties of the final product. Another aspect that is perhaps even more important, how do you obtain a 3D model from a radiological scan, so that you can send it to the 3D printer!
See the CT scan in figure 1, those without a medical background will not immediately be able to identify what you actually see on this CT scan. And then the field of a Technical Physicians becomes very important. Technical Physicians have the knowledge to interpret a CT scan, but certainly also be able to translate it into what is needed to realize a 3D printed model from a medical 3D printer.

The study Technical Medicine started in 2003 at the Technical University of Twente (Enschede, The Netherlands). The unique six-year study has grown into a popular field in the medical sector. In 2014, the same study followed through the partnership between Technical University of Delft, the Leiden University Medical Center and the Erasmus Medical Center.
Technical Physicians play an increasingly important role in medical care. This was further emphasized by the fact that on Tuesday, April 23, 2020, the Senate definitively included the Technical Medical Officer in the BIG Act.

For more information, please contact: contact@3DMedicalLab.com

Do not make technical innovations available, but deployable!