Three-dimensional printing: review of application in medicine and hepatic surgery

(整期优先)网络出版时间:2016-04-14
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Three-dimensional(3D)printing(3DP)isarapidprototypingtechnologythathasgainedincreasingrecognitioninmanydifferentfields.Inherentaccuracyandlow-costpropertyenableapplicabilityof3DPinmanyareas,suchasmanufacturing,aerospace,medical,andindustrialdesign.Recently,3DPhasgainedconsiderableattentioninthemedicalfield.Theimagedatacanbequicklyturnedintophysicalobjectsbyusing3DPtechnology.Theseobjectsarebeingusedacrossavarietyofsurgicalspecialties.Theshortageofcadaverspecimensisamajorprobleminmedicaleducation.However,thisconcernhasbeensolvedwiththeemergenceof3DPmodel.Custom-madeitemscanbeproducedbyusing3DPtechnology.Thisinnovationallows3DPuseinpreoperativeplanningandsurgicaltraining.Learningisdifficultamongmedicalstudentsbecauseofthecomplexanatomicalstructuresoftheliver.Thus,3Dvisualizationisausefultoolinanatomyteachingandhepaticsurgicaltraining.However,conventionalmodelsdonotcapturehapticqualities.3DPcanproducehighlyaccurateandcomplexphysicalmodels.Manytypesofhumanoranimaldifferentiatedcellscanbeprintedsuccessfullywiththedevelopmentof3Dbio-printingtechnology.Thisprogressrepresentsavaluablebreakthroughthatexhibitsmanypotentialuses,suchasresearchondrugmetabolismorliverdiseasemechanism.Thistechnologycanalsobeusedtosolveshortageoforgansfortransplantinthefuture.