Research Assessment #3

Name: Milind Renjit

Date: 9/21/18

Subject: 3D Printing In Cardiothoracic Surgery

Teacher: Mrs. Brittain

MLA citation:  

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Joshua L. Hermsen, MD, et al. “Scan, Plan, Print, Practice, Perform: Development and Use of a Patient-Specific 3-Dimensional Printed Model in Adult Cardiac Surgery.” Evolving Technology and Basic Science, Jan. 2017.

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Assessment:

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My focus shifted from observing the general future of Cardiothoracic Surgery, to a specific aspect of the future. This article titled, “Scan, Plan, Print, Practice, Perform: Development and use of a Patient-Specific 3-Dimensional Printed Model in Adult Cardiac Surgery,” is an academic research article conducted in collaboration with Joshua L. Hermsen, MD, Thomas M. Burke, PhD, Stephen P. Seslar, MD, PhD, David S. Owens, MD, Beth A. Ripley, MD, PhD, Nahush A. Mokadam, MD, and lastly Edward D. Verrier, MD. These are all well respected and established experts in the field of cardiology or cardiothoracic surgery, with some having other published works in related fields. In this article, they discuss the current usage of 3D printed models in cardiac surgery and how effective it is for the purpose of preoperative preparation and patient-specific training. With the common theme of cardiothoracic surgery being in a current state of decline, the advancements have begun to play heavily. On the other hand, with the pace at which technology is advancing, industry experts are predicting a soon coming revival of the field. This is primarily from the increased usage of technologies like 3D printing and robotics in our daily lives.

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This article began with a thorough explanation of how 3D printing is currently used in cardiac surgery. The shocking thing to learn was the current lacking of using 3D printing has in Cardiothoracic Surgery, with only being used throughout the field for replication and practice purposes, and just making one unique replication is a very labor and intricate process. As stated in my previous article, “Cardiac Surgery and the Future”, the popularity of less invasive procedures are increasing, with open heart surgeries declining, so in those situations, the uses of 3D models are very crucial to have the most success in a surgery with a high risk factor. Interestingly, with all the new technology being introduced and perfected, the ability to use 3D printed organs to either replace part or all of an organ during Cardiothoracic Surgery is also becoming a high possibility in the future. Especially since this method has been used in other cases from bones to plastic surgery, the technology is bound to trickle down to the uses of cardiothoracic surgery.

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Even though the current uses of 3D printing is very limited in the field of cardiothoracic surgery, there is growth being shown in the ability get costs reduced in the process of making these 3D models. In retrospect, the actual construction of a 3D printed object is relatively inexpensive. A few thousand dollars will provide an extremely capable 3D printer, and it will, over time, recoup the cost in terms of the savings that will be made in comparison to having parts made through other modes; however, the real costs show up through the scanning and programs used. The scanning process is called Computed Tomographic Scanning or a CAT scan, which is a procedure that uses a computer linked to an x-ray machine to make a series of detailed pictures of areas inside the body. These pictures are taken from various angles and are spliced together to create a 3D view of tissues and organs. This process is relatively modified to take a complete picture of the heart and remodel it. Given the relative newness of this technologies use in 3D printed organs there are complications in the process which can rise up the cost and difficulty of making these pre-operation practice organs.

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This most interesting aspect of this article is the usage of the 3D modeled hearts that are made. Due to the material used to construct the model hearts, doctors can quite literally perform the whole surgery on the mock heart. Surgeons can cut into, replace, even close up the heart, and can even inspect and get inspected on the quality of their mock operation. The research shown in this article indicated that having the ability to be able to fully practice the surgery before the actual open heart surgery made the process smoother than ever before. The prior practice allowed for less unpredicted complications in the surgery, better recovery, and no mortalities in the surgeries that were observed in the article. This creates an interesting proposition for all surgeons practicing today. Is it worth the time and money it may take to create a mock operation if it means having better results and confidence for the surgeon and the patient? Also if this is something that is commonly known in the medical industry, why isn't it used more often?

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In the short amount of time since its first implementation in medicine, 3D printing has cemented possible implementations deep within the industry. The technology is on the bleeding edge and still needs a lot of refinement to be done. Costs, even though they are relatively low, still need to decrease for wider adoption worldwide. There are often errors made in the prints themselves that can make the technology at times inconsistent and unreliable. Some of the materials used need more refinement to even closely mimic organs, bone, and various other bodily uses. However, given all these drawbacks and more the implementation of this cutting-edge technology is getting more diverse by the second. And similarly to the implementation of 3D printing, the refinement of the technology is occurring at an equivalent or faster rate. Proving that at some time period in the future 3D printing will be an integral part of medicine, surgery, and more specifically Cardiothoracic Surgery.