How 3D Printing Can Revamp Personalised Surgery

Gautam Gupta – vice president and general manager, medical devices, 3D Systems, explains how 3D printing technology is used to design patient-specific tools and guides to help improve surgical outcomes.

Healthcare is one of the most dynamic fields of technology. The speed at which innovation is occurring — from the way surgeries are performed, to the development of new therapies — is moving ever more rapidly.

Unfortunately, despite all these advances, findings by the World Health Organisation suggest that globally, surgery still results in high rates of illness, disease, and death. Unsafe surgical care procedures cause complications in up to 25% of patients. Almost seven million surgical patients suffer significant complications, one million of whom die during or immediately following surgery. 3D printing has been recognised for its ability to enable the creation of personalised surgical plans and tools, thus helping improve patient outcomes. 

3D Systems was an early innovator in the field through the introduction of our VSP surgical planning solutions whereby we combine expertise in medical imaging, surgical simulation, and 3D printing to enable personalised surgery - allowing surgeons to perform the surgery digitally before entering the operating room.