Three-dimensional printing: review of application in medicine and hepatic surgery.
Three-dimensional (3D) printing (3DP) is a rapid prototyping technology that has gained increasing recognition in many different fields. Inherent accuracy and low-cost property enable applicability of 3DP in many areas, such as manufacturing, aerospace, medical, and industrial design. Recently, 3DP has gained considerable attention in the medical field. The image data can be quickly turned into physical objects by using 3DP technology. These objects are being used across a variety of surgical specialties. The shortage of cadaver specimens is a major problem in medical education. However, this concern has been solved with the emergence of 3DP model. Custom-made items can be produced by using 3DP technology. This innovation allows 3DP use in preoperative planning and surgical training. Learning is difficult among medical students because of the complex anatomical structures of the liver. Thus, 3D visualization is a useful tool in anatomy teaching and hepatic surgical training. However, conventional models do not capture haptic qualities. 3DP can produce highly accurate and complex physical models. Many types of human or animal differentiated cells can be printed successfully with the development of 3D bio-printing technology. This progress represents a valuable breakthrough that exhibits many potential uses, such as research on drug metabolism or liver disease mechanism. This technology can also be used to solve shortage of organs for transplant in the future.
Biomanufacturing Center, Department of Mechanical Engineering, Tsinghua University, Beijing 100084, China.
Rui
R
Yao
Department of Liver Surgery, Peking Union Medical College (PUMC) Hospital, PUMC and Chinese Academy of Medical Sciences, Beijing 100730, China.
Gang
G
Xu
Biomanufacturing Center, Department of Mechanical Engineering, Tsinghua University, Beijing 100084, China.
Shuang-Shuang
SS
Mao
Department of Liver Surgery, Peking Union Medical College (PUMC) Hospital, PUMC and Chinese Academy of Medical Sciences, Beijing 100730, China.
Hua-Yu
HY
Yang
Department of Liver Surgery, Peking Union Medical College (PUMC) Hospital, PUMC and Chinese Academy of Medical Sciences, Beijing 100730, China.
Xin-Ting
XT
Sang
Biomanufacturing Center, Department of Mechanical Engineering, Tsinghua University, Beijing 100084, China.
Wei
W
Sun
Department of Liver Surgery, Peking Union Medical College (PUMC) Hospital, PUMC and Chinese Academy of Medical Sciences, Beijing 100730, China.
Yi-Lei
YL
Mao
3D bio-printing technology; 3D printing technology; education; hepatic surgery; surgery