Lessons learned from COVID-19 and 3D printing

• Published in: The American journal of emergency medicine Vol. 46; pp. 659 - 660
• Main Authors: Martin-Noguerol, Teodoro, Paulano-Godino, Felix, Menias, Christine O., Luna, Antonio
• Format: Journal Article
• Language: English
• Published: United States Elsevier Inc 01-08-2021; Elsevier Limited
• Subjects: 3-D printers; 3D printing; Bone surgery; Coronaviruses; COVID-19; COVID-19 - epidemiology; COVID-19 diagnostic tests; Disease Transmission, Infectious - prevention & control; Emergency medical care; Fractures; Hospitals; Humans; Infection Control - methods; Infections; Legal medicine; Masks; Medical device industry; Medical equipment; Medical supplies; Outbreak; Pandemics; Patients; Personal protective equipment; Population; Precision medicine; Printed materials; Printing; Printing, Three-Dimensional - statistics & numerical data; Prosthetics; Radiology; SARS-CoV-2; Severe acute respiratory syndrome coronavirus 2; Surgical outcomes; Ventilation; Ventilators; COVID-19; 3D printing; Outbreak
• ISSN: 0735-6757; 1532-8171
• DOI: 10.1016/j.ajem.2020.08.010

The use of 3D printing in medicine is not new, with consolidated and growing applications in surgical procedure planning, the creation of both personalized implants or prostheses, developing of medical devices or improvement and personalization of existing ones and anatomical models for improving medical training and education [1]. [...]nowadays is not uncommon to find 3D printing units or labs at radiology departments and hospitals approaching medical imaging to personalized medicine. [...]limitations in the access to COVID-19 testing swabs and kits have supposed a clear limitation to know the real proportion of infected population. [...]the use of 3D printed models in this scenario has demonstrated to reduce the admission time at the hospital after surgery being an indirect manner to protect people at risk from SARS-COV-2.