Written By: Kelly Buckman
By now, it should be clear to all of us that cutting-edge technological advances are key to the future of healthcare in the 21st century. In fact, it’s rare to receive medical care these days without some aspect of technology affecting us, from electronic health records (EHR’s) to wearable monitors to Virtual Reality diagnostics. It comes as little surprise then that the healthcare industry is blazing new trails when it comes to using technology to enhance, and even save, lives.
One such example is the use of 3D printing, a process of making three dimensional solid objects from a digital file. Once primarily associated with graphic design and manufacturing, 3D printing is being used today to create a variety of medical devices, including instrumentation (e.g., guides to assist with proper surgical placement of a device), implants (e.g., cranial plates or hip joints), dental restorations such as crowns, hearing aids, prescription eyeglasses, and external prostheses (e.g., hands). *
3D printing’s widespread appeal in the healthcare field is largely due to the fact that the technology makes it possible to make changes easily without needing additional equipment or tools, and to create complex devices, as well as devices that match a patient’s anatomy. **
Today, hospitals worldwide are creating 3D printing labs that allow healthcare professionals to utilize the technology on a day to day basis. One such lab at Phoenix Children’s Hospital prints patient-specific models that allow surgeons to look at the patient’s anatomy and practice procedures prior to surgery. This allows the patient to have less time in recovery, less time under anesthesia, and reduced exposure to the outside environment, potentially leading to reduction in mortality and overall better outcomes.
As of May, 2017, thousands of replacements for bony body parts had been implanted, including knees, hips, ankles, parts of the spine, and skull, with more patient-specific body parts expected down the road. One notable example is a tracheal splint created at the University of Michigan for an infant born with a congenitally defective trachea so weak that it collapsed after conventional treatment. A CT scan of the infant was used to 3D print a replica of its anatomy to create a splint wrap around the weakened trachea. With tissue from the baby’s bronchus sewn inside, as the trachea repaired itself, the tissue would gradually be absorbed. Pretty cool, right?
Clearly, 3D printing extends beyond offering hope for a better life to a privileged few. Through organizations like ROMP (Range of Motion Project), 3D printing is also helping to enhance quality of life for people in developing countries who need prosthetic limbs and orthotic braces. Another organization, E-Nable, encourages engineers and others around the world to build hands and arms on their own 3D printers in their spare time, using E-Nable’s open source designs. E-Nable is estimated to have provided about 1,800 prosthetic hands so far, with possibly another 1,800 produced outside of its documented process. ***
Indeed, much progress has been made in the use of 3D printing to enhance, and even save, lives. With an eye toward using 3D printing for organ replacement, researchers have succeeded in the creation of simpler structures such as skin, blood vessels, cartilage, bone, and the bladder, as well as more complex organs, such as heart valves. This is huge, considering that there is a worldwide shortage of organs available for lifesaving transplants. In the UK alone, the average wait for a kidney transplant on the NHS is two and a half years. In fact, lack of transplant tissue is estimated to be the leading cause of death in America. It’s estimated that about 900,000 deaths a year, or about 1/3 of all deaths in the U.S. could be prevented or delayed by organ or engineered tissue transplant. ****
Surgeons in Australia have already performed the first transplant surgery, implanting a 3D printed tibia into the leg of a man who was at risk of losing his leg above the knee to amputation. The 3D printed tibia was wrapped in blood vessels and leg tissue from both of his legs. After 5 surgeries, the procedure was ruled a success, and doctors will continue to monitor over the next 9 months, hoping to see new, healthy bone growth in the patient’s right shin, supported by the transplanted scaffolding. Upon recovery, the patient is expected to be able to walk again.
Recently, it was reported that scientists from the medical laboratory 3D Bioprinting Solutions, transplanted a 3D printed thyroid into a mouse, a groundbreaking surgery. The surgery was successful, and the 3D printed thyroid gland is completely functional. This is exciting news for the estimated 665 million people worldwide affected by thyroid disorders, many of whom cannot be treated with drugs or donor organ transplantation. *****
For all the progress that has been made to date, the ultimate test of 3D printing will likely be the creation of an artificial heart, a process that is bound to revolutionize medicine as we know it. BioLife4D is working on developing a printing process that could recreate a beating heart using a patient’s own cells. The process starts with an MRI scan of the patient’s heart and a blood sample. Cells in the blood are then re-programmed into heart cells and fed into the printer. This process is certainly not elementary, and the creation of an organ that is so crucial to sustaining life is so amazingly complex and may yet be a decade or more away. Data show that 1 in every 4 deaths in the U.S. every year is linked to heart disease, which is the leading cause of death (USA Today Report). These kinds of statistics give an added urgency, and importance supporting research into 3D printing technology. As the precision and scope of such technology is improved, its utilization will increase, especially in medically advanced, complex, and rare cases.******
--
Kelly Buckman is a healthcare IT expert and field expert blogger for Barracuda Consulting.
Kelly has almost a decade of experience as a Technical Support Engineer/ Analyst in the field of Healthcare IT, over 20 years in IT Support, and several years of experience in Project Management. She has a B.A. from Mount Holyoke, Masters degree from UMass Amherst, and lists her skills as the ability to analyze and resolve various types of application, server and network issues, and to communicate complex ideas effectively.
She is also the mother of 3 sons, ages 19, 17, and 11, lives in western Massachusetts, and enjoys solving puzzles, reading, and travelling.
Please leave your comments below. If you would like to subscribe to our newsletter, click here: https://tinyletter.com/barracuda-consulting. To purchase a full report on this subject, or to access our complete suite of healthcare, and IT advisory services please contact us: https://www.barracuda-consulting.net/contact.
By now, it should be clear to all of us that cutting-edge technological advances are key to the future of healthcare in the 21st century. In fact, it’s rare to receive medical care these days without some aspect of technology affecting us, from electronic health records (EHR’s) to wearable monitors to Virtual Reality diagnostics. It comes as little surprise then that the healthcare industry is blazing new trails when it comes to using technology to enhance, and even save, lives.
One such example is the use of 3D printing, a process of making three dimensional solid objects from a digital file. Once primarily associated with graphic design and manufacturing, 3D printing is being used today to create a variety of medical devices, including instrumentation (e.g., guides to assist with proper surgical placement of a device), implants (e.g., cranial plates or hip joints), dental restorations such as crowns, hearing aids, prescription eyeglasses, and external prostheses (e.g., hands). *
3D printing’s widespread appeal in the healthcare field is largely due to the fact that the technology makes it possible to make changes easily without needing additional equipment or tools, and to create complex devices, as well as devices that match a patient’s anatomy. **
Today, hospitals worldwide are creating 3D printing labs that allow healthcare professionals to utilize the technology on a day to day basis. One such lab at Phoenix Children’s Hospital prints patient-specific models that allow surgeons to look at the patient’s anatomy and practice procedures prior to surgery. This allows the patient to have less time in recovery, less time under anesthesia, and reduced exposure to the outside environment, potentially leading to reduction in mortality and overall better outcomes.
As of May, 2017, thousands of replacements for bony body parts had been implanted, including knees, hips, ankles, parts of the spine, and skull, with more patient-specific body parts expected down the road. One notable example is a tracheal splint created at the University of Michigan for an infant born with a congenitally defective trachea so weak that it collapsed after conventional treatment. A CT scan of the infant was used to 3D print a replica of its anatomy to create a splint wrap around the weakened trachea. With tissue from the baby’s bronchus sewn inside, as the trachea repaired itself, the tissue would gradually be absorbed. Pretty cool, right?
Clearly, 3D printing extends beyond offering hope for a better life to a privileged few. Through organizations like ROMP (Range of Motion Project), 3D printing is also helping to enhance quality of life for people in developing countries who need prosthetic limbs and orthotic braces. Another organization, E-Nable, encourages engineers and others around the world to build hands and arms on their own 3D printers in their spare time, using E-Nable’s open source designs. E-Nable is estimated to have provided about 1,800 prosthetic hands so far, with possibly another 1,800 produced outside of its documented process. ***
Indeed, much progress has been made in the use of 3D printing to enhance, and even save, lives. With an eye toward using 3D printing for organ replacement, researchers have succeeded in the creation of simpler structures such as skin, blood vessels, cartilage, bone, and the bladder, as well as more complex organs, such as heart valves. This is huge, considering that there is a worldwide shortage of organs available for lifesaving transplants. In the UK alone, the average wait for a kidney transplant on the NHS is two and a half years. In fact, lack of transplant tissue is estimated to be the leading cause of death in America. It’s estimated that about 900,000 deaths a year, or about 1/3 of all deaths in the U.S. could be prevented or delayed by organ or engineered tissue transplant. ****
Surgeons in Australia have already performed the first transplant surgery, implanting a 3D printed tibia into the leg of a man who was at risk of losing his leg above the knee to amputation. The 3D printed tibia was wrapped in blood vessels and leg tissue from both of his legs. After 5 surgeries, the procedure was ruled a success, and doctors will continue to monitor over the next 9 months, hoping to see new, healthy bone growth in the patient’s right shin, supported by the transplanted scaffolding. Upon recovery, the patient is expected to be able to walk again.
Recently, it was reported that scientists from the medical laboratory 3D Bioprinting Solutions, transplanted a 3D printed thyroid into a mouse, a groundbreaking surgery. The surgery was successful, and the 3D printed thyroid gland is completely functional. This is exciting news for the estimated 665 million people worldwide affected by thyroid disorders, many of whom cannot be treated with drugs or donor organ transplantation. *****
For all the progress that has been made to date, the ultimate test of 3D printing will likely be the creation of an artificial heart, a process that is bound to revolutionize medicine as we know it. BioLife4D is working on developing a printing process that could recreate a beating heart using a patient’s own cells. The process starts with an MRI scan of the patient’s heart and a blood sample. Cells in the blood are then re-programmed into heart cells and fed into the printer. This process is certainly not elementary, and the creation of an organ that is so crucial to sustaining life is so amazingly complex and may yet be a decade or more away. Data show that 1 in every 4 deaths in the U.S. every year is linked to heart disease, which is the leading cause of death (USA Today Report). These kinds of statistics give an added urgency, and importance supporting research into 3D printing technology. As the precision and scope of such technology is improved, its utilization will increase, especially in medically advanced, complex, and rare cases.******
--
Kelly Buckman is a healthcare IT expert and field expert blogger for Barracuda Consulting.
Kelly has almost a decade of experience as a Technical Support Engineer/ Analyst in the field of Healthcare IT, over 20 years in IT Support, and several years of experience in Project Management. She has a B.A. from Mount Holyoke, Masters degree from UMass Amherst, and lists her skills as the ability to analyze and resolve various types of application, server and network issues, and to communicate complex ideas effectively.
She is also the mother of 3 sons, ages 19, 17, and 11, lives in western Massachusetts, and enjoys solving puzzles, reading, and travelling.
Please leave your comments below. If you would like to subscribe to our newsletter, click here: https://tinyletter.com/barracuda-consulting. To purchase a full report on this subject, or to access our complete suite of healthcare, and IT advisory services please contact us: https://www.barracuda-consulting.net/contact.
Comments
Post a Comment