Authors (including presenting author) :
Lau HYA(1), Wong KC(2)
Affiliation :
(1)Prosthetic & Orthotic Department, Prince of Wales Hospital, (2)Department of Orthopaedics & Traumatology, Prince of Wales Hospital
Introduction :
Three-dimensional (3D) Printing service has been implemented into the routine clinical practice of orthopaedics and traumatology at NTEC in 2022. It is challenging to establish a clinical workflow and the medial 3D printing laboratory that ensure the patient safety and the quality of the medical models and devices manufacturing at the point of care. This service was built from the considerations of the clinical indications, patient and material safety, clinical workflow, software and hardware requirement in order to meet the international standards and enhance surgical outcome. This article shares the experience of the entire setup of the 3D printing service at NTEC.
Objectives :
To setup the medical 3D printing at NTEC
Methodology :
The 3D printing service is governed by the NTEC Q&S 3D Printing Working group including members from the major 3D printing users of various disciplines. The clinical workflow streamlines the entire 3D printing process including anatomy segmentation, 3D model manipulation, virtual surgical planning (VSP), patient specific instrument (PSI) design and 3D printing. Guidelines has been implemented to each process to comply with the FDA and ISO standards and NTEC Q&S requirements such as materials biocompatibility, chemical safety and process validation. User can request the 3D printing service through the CMS terminal. HA Chat is the official communication tool to create the chat room with the 3D printing team and share the patient information. A patient registry system was developed to achieve the patient records such as segmented 3D model, materials used for intra-operative PSI etc. The 3D printing laboratory is supported by four 3D printers of different technologies, build size and materials to produce colour, soft or rigid, biocompatible or sterilisable models for different use cases and conditions.
Result & Outcome :
In 2022, there were 245 requests for 3D printing services. 206 anatomical models were printed for pre-operative planning. 53 PSIs were printed for intra-operative use such as cutting jigs and drill guides. 34 prosthetic or orthotic devices were printed for rehabilitation and functional restoration. All requests were completed before the required date or operation date. Besides O&T applications, about 30% of the overall requests were received from ENT, Cardiology, Surgery and OMSD.
In the future, virtual model would be one of the deliverable method. The user can opt to a virtual model that can be viewed online with the support of the augmented reality or mixed reality equipment. The 3D printing service can be provided to other clinical departments in need.
