The major advances seen in health care applications of 3D printing technology have made what once seemed “futuristic” or “science fiction” much more of a reality and transformed how we approach certain conditions and treatments.
These breakthroughs are occurring right here in Columbus, Ohio, at The Ohio State University Wexner Medical Center through a collaboration of various experts, both in medicine and engineering, allowing us to provide more personalized care.
The evolution of 3D printing, which began in earnest in the 1980s, has come to a place where we’re creating customized prosthetics or exact replicas of tumors, bones and organs to more accurately prepare for and perform complicated surgeries.
Unlike traditional methods where we’d carve, grind or mold raw materials into products, 3D printing uses a digital image (usually a CT scan or MRI) to create a physical object. During this additive manufacturing technique, a machine places many successive layers of raw material on top of each other to form the desired model.
This allows health care providers to be quicker and more precise in their care, thus producing better outcomes for the people we treat.
Ohio State and 3D printing
In 2020, the Ohio State Wexner Medical Center’s Department of Otolaryngology (Ear, Nose and Throat), in collaboration with The Ohio State University’s College of Engineering and Institute for Materials Research, created the Medical Modeling, Materials and Manufacturing (M4) Lab.
The M4 Lab was designed to support the life-saving efforts of medical professionals and Ohio State faculty by stimulating and centralizing research innovation around bioengineering, medical device development and clinical 3D printing.
This truly interdisciplinary team of biomedical engineers, clinical researchers and physicians is using 3D printing to discover diagnostic tools, better understand how diseases function at the molecular and genetic level and find new solutions to complex medical problems.
Our state-of-the-art software tools allow our experts in the M4 Lab to rapidly print complex geometries and shapes for patient care, including operating-room models and cutting guides. Overall, we want to advance health and well-being through this amazing technology.
3D printing applications
The possibilities for using 3D printing in a hospital setting are seemingly infinite. We’ve already seen some very real benefits from the technology at the Ohio State Wexner Medical Center.
Current efforts aim to serve people undergoing new, uncommon or complex surgeries by providing access to 3D anatomic models. These devices help medical professionals with surgical planning, patient education and medical training. Other areas we’re exploring in the M4 Lab include:
- Medical device development – ranging from prototyping to materials science to quality system management
- Clinical models – for patient-specific anatomic models used to educate patients, serve as surgical guides and allow for better virtual surgical planning
- Custom medical prosthetics – including facial prosthetics
- Bioprinting – to be used for tissue engineering and in regenerative medicine
- Medical simulation – for teaching and other educational opportunities
Ohio State’s M4 Lab
The M4 Lab represents a collision of two passions for otolaryngologist Kyle VanKoevering, MD: engineering and medicine. The engineer turned physician started the lab with dreams of finding solutions to the surgical roadblocks he encountered during his head and neck surgeries, especially related to cancer.
For example, by making models of a patient’s anatomy, surgeons can now use a replica of a specific body part to guide and expedite reconstruction after a complicated tumor surgery.
The M4 LAB, which is housed in the Nanotech West Lab on The Ohio State University’s West Campus, has more than 20 printers using various techniques and materials. This allows for versatility in the applications available to our physicians.
Here are some examples of how we’ve used 3D printing to help people get better:- Jawbone models – Our first application of 3D printing was creating a replica of a mandible (jawbone) for someone undergoing reconstruction surgery after a tumor removal. We now make these models one or two times a week.
- Airway stent – We used 3D printing to create a stent for a laryngectomy patient with a tracheal obstruction.
- Custom prosthetics – We use 3D modeling and 3D surface scanning to create prosthetic noses, ears and other devices for patients with head and neck problems.
3D printing and the future of medicine
3D printing is already revolutionizing the practice of medicine, but Dr. VanKoevering and others working diligently at Ohio State’s M4 Lab believe that they’re just at the tip of the iceberg of what the technology will eventually be able to provide doctors and their patients.
Tissue and organ regeneration are the end goal for 3D printing applications. We hope to soon be able to print with living cells, which will allow what we put into the body to evolve and grow into a fully functional replacement organ. Among many other benefits for transplantation, this would remove the need for lifelong anti-rejection medication requirements.
In the future, we might also be able to print an aorta, ear or heart valve. Dr. VanKoevering says that bioprinting cells and tissues from a digital file is years — not decades — away, so the future in medicine is brighter because of 3D printing and the work being done at Ohio State’s M4 Lab.