Medical 3D Printing - Tomorrow’s Technology Today
In late November this year the Courier Mail published an article entitled – LIVES MADE TO ORDER. The article discussed the use of 3D printing in the medical field, outlining its applications and possibilities. It spoke of the orthopaedic applications in trauma, making patient specific implants to cater for massive bony defects after trauma.
The article failed to mention that 3D printing is being used commonly in the field of Joint Replacement. Patient specific cutting jigs, based on your very own knee MRI, can be used as part of your knee replacement procedure. The jigs allow for very accurate restoration of alignment, pre-operative implant sizing, and they may also reduce surgical time in some instances. The patient specific jigs mean that computer navigation (a technique commonly used to assist restoring alignment in knee joint replacement) is not necessary
The process of having cutting jigs made specific to your knee is a straightforward one. A MRI of the leg is taken and the images are sent to the product laboratory where a 3D printer is used to make the jigs. Bone models of your knee are also available for 3D spatial orientation. The turn around time for this process is about 6 weeks.
If you are interested in discussing these applications as they rate specifically to you, please ask me at your consultation. In instances where surgery is required (or desired) within a 6 week timeframe I continue to use computer navigation techniques which are very reproducible and reliable and should not be thought of as inferior to patient specific alternatives.
The applications for this technology in the field of Hip Replacement surgery are expanding and while not used commonly at this stage, may be used for complex reconstructive operations where bone defects make standard implants inappropriate.
