Three case studies are represented over here

where each case study emphasize how 3D

printing has impacted on the healthcare
sector especially in surgeries. Previously
surgeons had to cut open a patient trace the
deformities and decide what are the
corrections needed according to the areas
affected and the measurements taken.
Previously they were not able to decide
properly upon the pre operative precautions
they need to undertake. As a result they were
not so confident moreover it was also very
risky for the patient.
In the first case study it is being discussed
that how 3D printing proved to be an
effective pre surgical tool to find a cure for
the rare congenital heart disease
DORV(Double outlet right ventricle) defect
which is a condition a baby is born with or
may sometimes occur to a patient just after
an operation/heart attack. It is a condition
where both the aorta and the pulmonary
artery connect to the right ventricle and the
aorta pumps impure(deoxygenated) blood to
the whole body in addition there is a hole in
the septum separating the left & the right
ventricles mixing the pure and the impure
blood which is often referred to as Ventricular
Septal Defect. So the main solution to this
disorder is to create a barrier between the
left and the right ventricles so that the pure &
the impure blood don’t get mixed up. The
cardiologist previously had to rely only on the
2D MRI/CT scan reports but now the advent
of 3D printing these images can be converted
to STL(Stereolithography) files and a
prototype can be printed. The 3D model
provided a clear view to the surgeon about
the pre-surgical precautions they should take.
Some of the cases the patients also had
PS(Pulmonary Stenosis) where the pulmonary
artery is narrow as compared to the root but
as the heart model with the disorder is
printed the surgeon can plan accordingly on
their approach by viewing the 3D prototype
of the defective heart. They also gained more
confidence before actually operating a
patient.
In the second case study we are being taken
through another complex situation to operate
a patient who lost her entire left cheek due to
some disease and the only cure to this
problem is cosmetologically corrective
surgery which in normal case becomes quite
complicated as the surgeon first needs to cut
open the patient , take the dimensions of the
part to be replaced by viewing the deformed
parts. Then accordingly the surgeon has to
design the model and put it in the patient as
these measurements totally depend on the
morphology of the patient’s face and it
always vary from person to person. But 3D
printing proved to be a breakthrough as now
the CT scan reports are converted to STL files
and the dimensions can be easily understood
which helps the oral maxillary surgeon to
make the model using the measurements of
the prototype. The designer works on the
entire skull portion in the software and
replaces the damaged portion of left cheek by
the mirror image of the right side which
makes the task easy for the surgeon and in
turn saves time in operation room and the
entire process become less risky.
In the third case study we saw a specific case
of using implants for cranial reconstruction
where a patient faced an accident which has
led to deformation in right frontal bone. Here
the principle of 3D printing is applied to
manufacture a metal implant by converting
the 2D images to STL format in the software
which generates a mesh of triangles but the
situation seems more difficult here as for this
the file size becomes quite large which can’t
be processed in normal software as the
doctors need more resolution in this case to
decide upon the strategies to solve the issue.
The material used in these implants is
Titanium-64 (FDA approved) and the software
used to store large files and for better
resolution is Magics .Here 3D printing has
proved to be helpful as the cases where
implants are crucial are patient specific as no
two persons have the same trauma . the
implants are modelled according to the
dimension of the affected parts.
To sum up 3D printing has proved to be a
breakthrough in the complicated medical
surgeries as it allows the modelling various
kinds of geometries once it is programmed in
an efficient manner to understand the
diseased areas to brainstorm new ideas and
proper planning before actually operating a
patient In case of implants, as these are
exclusively patient specific the metallic
implants posses holes all over the surface to
allow the in-bone growth development
though it is not as easy as it seems The
materials put inside may not be compatible in
some specific case if the patient is allergic to
the metal used to manufacture the implant in
addition sometimes the converting of 2D
images to STL images becomes very tough as
the file size is enormous and proper
resolution is also needed to understand the
complexities which may arise during surgery .