Handbook of Surgical Planning and 3D Printing

Handbook of Surgical Planning and 3D Printing: Applications, Integration, and New Directionsis based on practical experiences in the field and covers 3D printing and surgical planning from clinical, technical, and economic points of view. 3D printing is a well-known process and established technology. Applications in health care are among the most intriguing and challenging. 3D-printed anatomical models for surgical planning have gained a stable position as a potential solution to numerous clinical problems. Despite the well-documented clinical applications of 3D printing in the last few decades, it is yet to be successfully integrated into many hospital-based clinical services on a day-to-day basis. The main reason is the lack of knowledge regarding how to move from a single study case into a clinical process or, more precisely, what is needed in terms of skills, resources, and organization to implement 3D printing clinically. This book fills the gap and addresses the questions: (1) What type of medical images are needed for 3D printing, and for which specific application. (2) What software should be used to process the images, should the software be considered a medical device. (3) Data protection, should the process be performed inside the hospital, or can it be partly externalized. (4) What are the possible clinical applications and their differences in imaging, segmentation, and 3D printing. And finally, (5) What skills, resources, and organization are needed to establish an integrated service inside the hospital. The book is divided into four sessions: (i) Technologies involved in 3D printing in health: data structure, medical images and segmentation, printing materials and 3d printing; (ii) 3D printing and Clinical Applications: orthopedic surgery, neurosurgery, maxillofacial, orthodontistry, surgical guides and other; (iii) Integrating 3D printing Service in Hospitals: infrastructures, competences, organization and cost/benefits; (iv) New directions: metal printing, bioprinting, biocompatible models and associated applications. At the end of each chapter will be a FAQ session associated with the topic The book will be a reference and a guideline for engineers, medical doctors, and administrators approaching this topic and/or starting to implement this process.