The recording of the Society for Surgery (SVS) webinar on three-dimensional (3D) printing in vascular surgery is now available on the SVS website.
The SVS Health Information Technology Committee (HIT) held the webinar, “3D Printing for Vascular Imaging,” in December 2022. Committee Chair Judith Lin, MD, and member Dan Kassavin, MD, co-moderated the webinar. Nick Carruthers, MD, Stacy Fisher, MD, Jeffrey Hirsch, MD, and Nicholas Osborne, MD, presented various aspects of 3D printing and its uses.
“Three-dimensional imaging is becoming an essential tool in the workplace, including in medicine,” said Lin.
Carruthers began the webinar with an overview on the use of 3D as well as a demonstration of how to “create a model from a CT scan and then print it mainly using consumer-grade printers and materials available to almost anybody.”
Osborne demonstrated, in-depth, how to use the technology for complex aneurysm planning and practice for actual surgery. His conclusions are that such printing in these cases has value in planning, in education for residents, explaining details to patients, and operating room back-table customization.
Fischer and Hirsch related how using 3D printing to make surgery safer for Fischer’s congenital heart disease patients led to requests from vascular surgeons to similarly help with aneurysm repair. The two also discussed which kind of imaging has led to the most success in 3D modeling; software; future directions, including personalized medicine with 3D models as part of a patient’s records; education; consultation with other providers; and more.
“3D printing has become the largest instructive technology shift since the internet,” Lin said at the webinar’s conclusion. “It’s fascinating to see where technology will take us in the future and definitely something we look forward to.”
The panelists’ information could “affect your current and future practices,” she told webinar participants, and the information presented during discussion could help surgeons take better care of their patients via various innovations. “Our next step is to strive for improvements in vascular care using these modern technologies,” she said. “Let’s innovate.”
To view the recording visit vascular.org/3DprintingRecording.
