SPECIAL ARTICLE  3D PRINTING IN ORTHOPEDICS AND TRAUMATOLOGY 

Minerva Orthopedics 2021 August;72(4):395-406

DOI: 10.23736/S2784-8469.20.04033-3

Copyright © 2020 EDIZIONI MINERVA MEDICA

language: English

The experience of a clinical 3D printing laboratory: current and future perspectives

Stefania MARCONI ¹ ✉, Valeria MAURI ¹, Erika NEGRELLO ¹, Matteo GHIARA ², Andrea PERI ³, Luigi PUGLIESE ³, Ferdinando AURICCHIO ¹, Francesco BENAZZO ^{4, 5, 6}, Andrea PIETRABISSA ^{3, 4}

¹ Department of Civil Engineering and Architecture, University of Pavia, Pavia, Italy; ² Unit of Orthopedics, Foundation IRCCS Polyclinic San Matteo, Pavia, Italy; ³ Unit of General Surgery II, Foundation IRCCS Polyclinic San Matteo, Pavia, Italy; ⁴ Department of Clinical-Surgical, Diagnostic and Pediatric Sciences, University of Pavia, Pavia, Italy; ⁵ Unit of Sports Traumatology, Section of Robotic Address Prosthetic Surgery, Brescia, Italy; ⁶ Unit of Orthopedics and Traumatology, Fondazione Poliambulanza Istituto Ospedaliero, Brescia, Italy

The widespread of 3D printing or additive manufacturing technologies within the medical field, especially the orthopaedical one, has recently led to a growing interest among hospitals in the acquisition of such technologies to support the clinical activity. The work reports the current overview of the clinical 3D printing laboratories activated worldwide and discusses the possibilities offered by the presence of such laboratories inside a hospital through the experience of 3D4Med, one of the first hospital-based laboratory activated. The work describes the concept and logistic of the clinical 3D printing laboratory and provides examples of its role within the hospital activity, with a special focus on the orthopaedical field. The presence of a Clinical 3D Printing Laboratory can positively impact on a number of aspects of the daily clinical activity, such as the preoperatory planning, the communication with the surgical team and/or the patient and the teaching activities. The experience of 3D4Med and the worldwide overview of clinical 3D printing laboratories foresee a positive trend in the spread of such implementation, supported by the evidence of the multiple benefits of the technology brought by the literature on the topic.

KEY WORDS: Printing, three-dimensional; Clinical laboratory service; Models, anatomic