3D Printing Programs Fuel a Model Approach to Care | HealthTech Magazine

When Justin Ryan, Ph.D., director of the 3D Innovations Lab at Rady Children’s Hospital–San Diego, attends 3D printing conferences, he likes to talk to prop designers who are developing zombie heads or fake limbs for movies.

“They can teach me an incredible amount about how to create advanced simulators,” Ryan says.

Using 3D printers, medical professionals can create models of a patient’s case that then can be used to help plan and practice a procedure — in some cases so advanced that the models can bleed stage blood.

At Rady Children’s, doctors leverage tools, including HP’s Jet Fusion 500/300 Series 3D printers, to print models for both new and previous cases. That allows them to use specific prototypes for teaching and discussion purposes well after a procedure has taken place.

“It’s really giving clinicians and the surgical team more information,” Ryan says. “When they set foot in the operating room, they know exactly what that child’s airway or that child’s heart is going to look like when they operate. The more information and better the plan, the better the procedure.”