Background 3D printing is a popular technology in many industries secondary to its ability to rapidly produce inexpensive, high fidelity models/products, mainly through layer-by-layer fusion of various substrate materials. In healthcare, 3D printing has garnered interest for its applications in surgery, simulation, education, and medical device development, and 3D printing facilities are now being integrated into hospital-based settings. Yet, little is known regarding the leadership, resources, outputs, and role of these new onsite entities. Methods The purpose of this research was to survey features of North American hospital-based 3D printing facilities to understand their design and utility in anticipation of future expansion. Hospital-based 3D printing labs were recruited through online special interest groups to participate via survey response. Anonymous, voluntary data were collected from 21 facilities over 9 weeks and reported/analyzed in aggregate. Results Of the respondents, > 50% were founded in the past 5 years and 80% in the past decade, indicating recent and rapid growth of such facilities. Labs were most commonly found within large, university-affiliated hospitals/health systems with administration frequently, but not exclusively, through radiology departments, which was shown to enhance collaboration. All groups reported collaborating with other medical specialties/departments and image segmentation as part of the workflow, showing widespread interest in high fidelity, personalized medicine applications. Lab leadership was most often multidisciplinary, with physicians present on nearly all leadership teams. Budgets, personnel, and outputs varied among groups, however, all groups reported engagement in multiple 3D printing applications. Conclusion This preliminary study provides a foundation for understanding the unique nature of hospital-based 3D printing labs. While there is much to learn about such in-house facilities, the data obtained reveal important baseline characteristics. Further research is indicated to validate these early findings and create a detailed picture of the developing infrastructure of 3D printing in healthcare settings.
Background: Three-dimensional (3D) printing has been increasingly utilized in the healthcare sector for many applications including guiding surgical procedures, creating medical devices, and producing custom prosthetics. As personalized medicine becomes more accessible and desired, 3D printed models emerge as a potential tool in providing patient-specific education. These personalized 3D models are at the intersection of technological innovation and medical education. Our study group utilized a modified Delphi process to create a comprehensive survey tool assessing patient experience with personalized 3D models in preoperative education.Methods: A rigorous literature review was conducted of prior patient education survey tools in surgical cases across specialties involving personalized 3D printed models. Through categorization and mapping, a core study team reviewed individual questions, removed duplicates, and edited them into generalizable form. A modified Delphi process was then used to solicit feedback on question clarity and relevance from both 3D printing healthcare experts and patients to create a final survey.Results: 173 survey questions from the literature were evaluated by the core study team, yielding 31 unique questions for further review. After multiple rounds of feedback, a final survey containing 18 questions was developed.Conclusion: 3D printed models have the potential to be helpful tools in surgical patient education, and there exists a need to standardize the assessment of patient experience with these models. This survey provides a standardized, generalizable way to investigate the patient experience with personalized 3D-printed models.
363 Background: 3D printing is a growing tool in surgical education due to the ability to visualize organs, tissue, and masses from multiple angles before operating on a patient. Previous studies using highly detailed and expensive 3D models costing between $1,000-250 per model have been shown to enhance patient and trainee comprehension of tumor characteristics, goals of surgery, and planned surgical procedure for partial nephrectomies. In our study we aim to use simpler and less expensive models in a greater range of patients receiving partial nephrectomies to determine the use of 3D models in patient, resident, and fellow education. Methods: 3D models of the effected kidney, mass, renal artery, and renal vein were created using preoperative imaging of undergoing partial nephrectomies at Thomas Jefferson University Hospital (TJUH) costing $35 per model. Residents and fellows filled out 3 surveys assessing their surgical plan and their confidence in the chosen plan at 3 time points: 1) Before seeing the model, 2) After seeing the model before surgery, and 3) After surgery. Ten patients filled out 2 surveys about their understanding of the kidney, their disease, the surgery they will undergo, and the risks involved with surgery before and after seeing the model. Results: Based on surveys to assess for surgical plan and confidence given to resident and fellow surgeons before and after seeing the 3D model, confidence significantly increased. Surveys given after surgery assessing anatomic and surgical comprehension found that resident and fellow surgeons rated the helpfulness of the models on their anatomical comprehension 7.6 out of 10 and the help of the models on their surgical confidence 7 out of 10. Patient understanding of their kidney, disease, and surgery significantly increased after seeing the 3D model, but the risks associated with surgery did not significantly increase. The extent that the model helped the patients learn about the kidney, their disease, the surgery, and the risks related to surgery were rated an average of 8.33, 9.67, 9.5, and 8.83 out of 10, respectively. Conclusions: Patient-specific 3D models for partial nephrectomies increase resident and fellow confidence in surgical approach and helped patients learn about their disease and feel comfortable going into surgery. Thus, it is important to continue to explore 3D models as an educational tool for both trainees and patients and potentially include 3D models as part of the standard of care. Further research could continue to explore the utility of 3D models as a pre-operative educational tool for both patients and trainees in other surgical fields.
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