Progress in the Application of 3D Printing Technology in Spine Surgery

Abstract

We are in the midst of exciting advancements in new technologies and innovative research in precision medicine. Among these, 3D printing is one of the most frequently seen in clinical orthopaedic settings. This new technique has been adopted in a vast range of applications in spine surgery, such as producing anatomical models, surgical templates, preoperative plans, and spinal implants. Some studies on 3D printing technologies in spine surgery have reported the benefits of this emerging technology with more effective manufacturing, more visualisation for communication, and more precise navigation for screw insertion and osteotomy. In addition, in customised implant design and fabrication processes, 3D printing products with anatomical adaptions and complex porous microstructure show some attractive advantages in terms of fit and osteoinductivity. However, there are still some concerns about the safety and feasibility of the application of 3D printing technology in spine surgery. We review the literature on and share our experiences with the application of 3D printing from the beginning of collaborations between doctors and computer-aided design (CAD) designers to the final follow-up of clinical patients.

Utilization of a novel patient-specific 3D-printing template for percutaneous endoscopic transforaminal discectomy: results from a randomized controlled trial

“…3D printing technology has been found to have considerable application value in the medical field (Mayfield et al, 2022;Moralidou et al, 2022), particularly in Spine Surgery (Sun et al, 2021;Fan et al, 2022). Through 3D printing technology, the operator's ideas can be incorporated into the 3D printed products.…”

Tridimensional models and radiographic study of dorsal laminectomy and thoracolumbar hemilaminectomy in dogs

“…As mentioned 21 , spinal osteotomy is still a risky technique that can lead to injuries and requires previous training. Therefore, AMSCSA of TPS and LPS are innovatively useful tools to expose students to the most common surgical techniques for spinal cord decompression.…”

Anatomical and Imaging Study on the Optimum Entry Point and Trajectory for Anterior Transpedicular Root Screw Placement into the Lower Cervical Spine

“…Patton et al [ 11 ] found that catastrophic screw placement occurred in 33.3% of the patients with fluoroscopy-guided free-hand screw placement, compared with a significantly lower but still high incidence of 16.7% in the image-guided group. It is shown that patient-specific drill templates (PDTs) made by three-dimensional printing technology (3DP) had favorable effectiveness and accuracy in assisting cervical transpedicular screw placement [ 31 , 32 ].…”