Aug 3, 2017 | By Benedict
Bioengineers from the University of California San Diego and physicians from Rady Children's Hospital are using 3D printed models to improve surgeries for slipped capital femoral epiphysis, the most common hip disorder found in children ages 9 to 16. Use of models cut surgery time by about 25%.
3D printed hip models helped San Diego surgeons cut operation times by around 25 percent
We see 3D printed medical models so frequently these days, it can be easy to accept their existence without questioning them.
But have you ever wondered just how useful such models can be—in numerical terms? While it makes total sense that a 3D printed model could improve a surgeon’s performance by allowing him or her to practice, sometimes it’s hard to gauge just how much improvement there really is.
That’s what makes a recent study at the University of California San Diego and San Diego’s Rady Children's Hospital so important.
In the study, researchers created 3D printed models of patient hip joints, to allow surgeons to practice their procedure before doing the real thing.
But they also used a control group, letting a few surgeons perform the procedure without a 3D printed aid to see exactly how much difference the 3D printed models were making.
The study was published in a recent issue of the Journal of Children's Orthopaedics.
In the study, Dr. Vidyadhar Upasani, pediatric orthopedic surgeon at Rady Children's and UC San Diego and the paper's senior author, operated on 10 young patients with slipped capital femoral epiphysis, a common hip disorder that affects about 11 in 100,000 children in the United States every year.
Five of Upasani’s operations were assisted with 3D printed hip models; five were not. Two other surgeons also operated on different groups of five patients, without using 3D printed models.
Excitingly, the results of the study showed 3D printing in a positive light. In the group where Upasani used 3D printed models, surgeries were 38-45 minutes shorter compared with the two control groups.
Student Jason Caffrey helped develop the 3D printed models
And according to the study’s researchers, these time savings would translate into at least $2,700 in savings per surgery.
Given that the kind of 3D printer required for the models would only cost around $2,200, such equipment clearly represents a solid investment—so much so, in fact, that Rady Children's orthopedics department has already acquired its own.
"Being able to practice on these 3D models is crucial," Upasani concluded. “It's now hard to plan surgeries without them.”
To make the 3D printed models, two UC San Diego students, Jason Caffrey and Lillia Cherkasskiy, teamed up with Upasani, bioengineering professor Robert Sah, and their colleagues. They took CT scans of each patient’s pelvis, and used this data to make a computerized model of the bone and growth plate for 3D printing.
Printing took between four and 10 hours for each 3D printed hip model.
When completed, the 3D printed models allowed Upasani to visualize in 3D how the growth plate of each patient was deformed. This allowed him to familiarize himself with the patient’s physiology without using radiation-giving X-rays.
Although this study only focused on one kind of procedure, the speed improvement of 25 percent will be music to the ears of medical 3D printing specialists, and may encourage more hospitals to adopt additive technology.
Posted in 3D Printing Application
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