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3D Printers in Healthcare: Innovation That Saves Lives

Remember when 3D printers came into our lives? It was “something completely different”. 3D printers changed the market forever, and they ensured a change within multiple industries. Now it’s possible to create goods and products with a game changing technology that sharpens our future existence. And what comes as no surprise — healthcare and medicine win when applying cutting-edge technology to regular practices.

People who are responsible for research processes in healthcare sector are talking about revolution that is going to happen in health industry within a few years. Re-imagined telehealth, which existed since 1993, and now adopting 3D printers as helpers — these things will make the world a better and safer place.  And it’s visible even now: there are many success stories about using 3D printers while performing a surgery.

A good example of successful applying 3D printers is a story that happened in  Kaiser Permanente’s Los Angeles Medical Center. Since 2015, Kaiser Permanente’s Los Angeles Medical Center has used 3D printers for producing the exact human parts in order to use them within surgeries. These multidimensional models produced by cutting-edge technology are going to change the healthcare world, and the start of that change is already here. There were successful surgeries with use of the innovative technique.

Models that were produced by 3D printer were used by surgeons to handle and scrutinize them first, and then to simulate a variety of possible manipulations before going to operation. This approach will help to define so-called “trouble spots” and know the issues that can appear. Isn’t this amazing? Such things can help to prevent many dangerous scenarios. Sean Chai, Director of innovation and advanced technology services at Kaiser Permanente, has shared a brand new experience that was possible due to 3D printer usage.

This approach with the use of 3D printing technology prove itself: during the surgery, a patient has suffered a tear in the wall of his aorta. Aorta is the main artery leading out of his heart — and you can imagine how dangerous this case was. And due to possibility of a pre-surgery training this case was held perfectly. “They used that in a team-based training environment to see how they could confidently proceed with some of these special procedures”, — commented Sean Chai. He compared this approach to “flight training” with “simulator” before going into actual flight.  The patient, by the way, came through the procedure fine and is recovering.

So, the future of health care is surely related to new technologies. With such news it’s safe to say that surgeries will likely become more safe and more affordable in the near future. Moreover, with an option to train on something doctors will be able to develop a specialized, personal treatment plan. “Ultimately, that improves the quality and affordability of care,” Chai says. Hopefully this trend will continue to grow with more and more innovations coming into our lives.

 

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