Abstract
The increasing complexity of cardiovascular interventions requires advanced peri-procedural imaging and tailored treatment. Three-dimensional printing technology represents one of the most significant advances in the field of cardiac imaging, interventional cardiology or cardiovascular surgery. Patient-specific models may provide substantial information on intervention planning in complex cardiovascular diseases, and volumetric medical imaging from CT or MRI can be translated into patient-specific 3D models using advanced post-processing applications. 3D printing and additive manufacturing have a great variety of clinical applications targeting anatomy, implants and devices, assisting optimal interventional treatment and post-interventional evaluation. Although the 3D printing technology still lacks scientific evidence, its benefits have been shown in structural heart diseases as well as for treatment of complex arrhythmias and corrective surgery interventions. Recent development has enabled transformation of conventional 3D printing into complex 3D functional living tissues contributing to regenerative medicine through engineered bionic materials such hydrogels, cell suspensions or matrix components. This review aims to present the most recent clinical applications of 3D printing in cardiovascular medicine, highlighting also the potential for future development of this revolutionary technology in the medical field.
Highlights
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Three-dimensional printing has been commonly used in commercial fields in the last decade, the development of this new technology in medical field is still limited to several disciplines such as orthopedics, neurosurgery, maxillofacial surgery and cardiology [1,2]
The recent emergence of complex renderings of cardiac magnetic resonance, cardiac computed tomography (CCT) and echo imagery have improved the visualization of pathologies, but lack in tactile experience and in three-dimensional complex visualization [10,11]
Summary
Rigid materials are used mostly in pre-interventional planning models, which have been demonstrated to improve the spatial and structural understanding. The most commonly used printing materials are acrylonitrile butadiene styrene with fused filament modeling; this is considered as the most cost-effective material in the field of rapid prototyping. The droplet method with thermoset materials has been used to fabricate appropriate devices for patient-specific models for simulation of flow resistances, with no model fractures, regardless of the fluid flow profiles. Metals such as titanium mostly used for printing implantable devices, due to its low weight, biocompatibility and sterilization adequacy [30]
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