{"title":"Three-Dimensional Printing in Cardiothoracic Surgery: Workflow and Clinical Applications.","authors":"Charles G Jenkinson, Tristan L Wood, Jason Chuen","doi":"10.7759/cureus.85530","DOIUrl":null,"url":null,"abstract":"<p><p>Rapid advances have been made in the field of three-dimensional (3D) printing in recent times. The hardware required to create high-fidelity, anatomically accurate 3D models of intrathoracic structures, including the great vessels and bony structures, is accessible and easy to use and utilizes consumables that are cost-effective. The quality of 3D printers, especially in consumer-level machines, has improved in recent times, while the price of the hardware has decreased. We have developed a toolchain to create 3D-printed models for use in patient education and consent, operative planning, and student/resident teaching. We outline our approach using a free and open-source toolchain, highlighting the utility of our models so that others may reproduce our techniques in their own clinical and teaching practice.</p>","PeriodicalId":93960,"journal":{"name":"Cureus","volume":"17 6","pages":"e85530"},"PeriodicalIF":1.3000,"publicationDate":"2025-06-07","publicationTypes":"Journal Article","fieldsOfStudy":null,"isOpenAccess":false,"openAccessPdf":"https://www.ncbi.nlm.nih.gov/pmc/articles/PMC12145207/pdf/","citationCount":"0","resultStr":null,"platform":"Semanticscholar","paperid":null,"PeriodicalName":"Cureus","FirstCategoryId":"1085","ListUrlMain":"https://doi.org/10.7759/cureus.85530","RegionNum":0,"RegionCategory":null,"ArticlePicture":[],"TitleCN":null,"AbstractTextCN":null,"PMCID":null,"EPubDate":"2025/6/1 0:00:00","PubModel":"eCollection","JCR":"Q3","JCRName":"MEDICINE, GENERAL & INTERNAL","Score":null,"Total":0}
引用次数: 0
Abstract
Rapid advances have been made in the field of three-dimensional (3D) printing in recent times. The hardware required to create high-fidelity, anatomically accurate 3D models of intrathoracic structures, including the great vessels and bony structures, is accessible and easy to use and utilizes consumables that are cost-effective. The quality of 3D printers, especially in consumer-level machines, has improved in recent times, while the price of the hardware has decreased. We have developed a toolchain to create 3D-printed models for use in patient education and consent, operative planning, and student/resident teaching. We outline our approach using a free and open-source toolchain, highlighting the utility of our models so that others may reproduce our techniques in their own clinical and teaching practice.