Press for Life - 3D Printing

Akhil Hanmantgad


Organ transplants save lives. [1] Currently in the UK, 4076 people are waiting for a kidney transplant and 436 people are waiting for a liver transplant, making them the most common organ transplant procedures. Unfortunately, this also means that the current waiting time for these organs is extensive. [2] Those that need kidney transplants, in particular, are put on a waiting list for roughly 2-3 years. Out of all those needing a kidney transplant, approximately ⅓ of these patients will die before receiving the transplant. But through the use of 3D printing technology in medicine, would it be possible to significantly reduce waiting times and deaths?


[3] 3D printing was first developed in the 1980s by Charles W. Hull. It was mainly used for ‘rapid prototyping’ in engineering and manufacturing. The 3D printer uses material such as metal, plastic, or wood instead of ink to build 3D objects based on computer-generated models. Since then, 3D printers have been made more widely available and much more cheaply. They are currently used in all forms of industry and scientific research, including medical research. 


[4] Currently, 3D printing has 4 main applications in medicine and medical research. 


  1. 3D printing of surgical instruments


3D printing allows sterile surgical instruments to be manufactured in large volumes, to prevent a shortage of forceps, scalpels, and other instruments in a hospital setting. Online models can be designed to make these instruments more precise and prevent unnecessary extra damage to the patient. 


  1. Custom-made prosthetics using 3D printing


Non-organic 3D printers are also used to print prosthetics which have been designed to correspond directly to the specifications and needs of the patient, rather than manufacturing standard sizes of prosthetics. This also makes the manufacturing of prosthetics cheaper, compared to other methods. This is especially beneficial for pediatric patients, who will grow out of their previous size of prosthetic as they get older. This method also allows patients to personalise the look of their prosthetics using computer models.


  1. Surgery preparation assisted by the use of 3D printed models


This is used particularly in the case of rare and complicated surgeries. Patient-specific organs, which mimic the conditions of the patient are modeled and printed. This allows surgeons to practice these surgeries, and minimise risk to patients. This process is used regularly in Dubai and was trialed for the first time in Belfast in 2018, where surgeons successfully practiced a cyst removal on a patient’s kidney.


  1. Bioprinting tissues and organoids


This is the closest that we have reached to recreating artificial human organs available for transplantation. Here, organic 3D bioprinters use living cells in the place of ink to create living tissues. Computer models can then be used to model the tissues to create ‘organoids’. Organoids are structures that mimic organs on a miniature scale. They are currently being used in medical research, and are being trialed for their use as artificial human organ transplants. 


Should these trials be successful, 3D bioprinters could be manufactured in numbers akin to paper printing presses and ‘print’ large volumes of these ‘organoids’ to keep up with the demand. This could help prevent the thousands of deaths that could potentially occur whilst a patient is on the waiting list for the organ transplant. There are many press publications in the world, printing newspapers to magazines to books. But will there ever be a press for life?


References


[1]https://nhsbtdbe.blob.core.windows.net/umbraco-assets-corp/18279/annual_stats.pdf

[2]https://www.nhs.uk/conditions/kidney-transplant/waiting-list/

[3]https://3dinsider.com/3d-printing-history/

[4]https://www.medicaldevice-network.com/features/3d-printing-in-the-medical-field-applications/

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