Transcatheter aortic valve replacement (TAVR), a groundbreaking innovation in itself, is a technique that utilizes catheters to deliver a new heart valve to a patient through their blood vessels, removing the need for open-heart surgery. This allows treatment for patients who are not surgical candidates, but it requires careful planning to ensure that the right size valve is delivered (too small or too large can lead to catastrophic results).
The physicians on the team described this sizing problem to their non-medical teammates, who borrowed from architecture and materials science to create a 3D printing solution using parametric modeling and multi-material 3D printing technology to create a biomechanical model of the patient’s diseased valve. The model allowed for testing of different replacement valve sizes in a controlled environment prior to surgery.
As a bonus, Hosny put his architectural skills to use to design a reusable 3D-printed sizing device that could replicate the TAVR heart valve for planning, overcoming a major barrier to pre-surgical valve testing (the actual valve costs thousands of dollars, making opening multiple valves for testing purposes a very costly solution).
Figures from Hosny et al., JCCT 2018.
Examples of 3D-printed heart valves using parametric
leaflet modeling and multi-material 3D printing,
alongside CT images that the models were derived from.
Other promising innovations include virtual surgical planning and 3D printing of custom surgical cutting guides to decrease operating room time for mandibular surgeries (decreasing operating time by two hours can translate to roughly $9,000 in savings), creation of 3D-printed orthotic braces that are designed to withstand daily activities and enhance patient comfort, as well as 3D bioprinting of tissues that may one day address the global shortage in donor organs.
What of the fact that a large percentage of the world’s population still has no access to routine diagnostic X-ray equipment, let alone 3D printing technology? What that tells us is that our work as innovators is far from done. Increasing access to all healthcare technology, from radiographic equipment to 3D printers, is an ongoing challenge that will require creative minds across disciplines within and outside of medicine. Meanwhile, who knows what the next great technology leap will be, and whether it will change the game entirely.
About the author: Beth Ripley MD, PhD is a radiologist who specializes in translating medical imaging into virtual and 3D-printed models with the goal of changing the way doctors and patients understand and treat disease. She collaborates across multiple disciplines and has a passion for innovation and human-centered design. She is a radiologist at the VA Puget Sound Health Care System and an Assistant Professor of Radiology at University of Washington School of Medicine. She additionally serves as an Innovation Specialist for the VHA Center for Innovation and is the Chair of the VHA 3D Printing Advisory Committee.
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