Can 3D printers eliminate the organ transplant waiting list?
Imagine sitting in a cardiology exam room, anxiously awaiting test results. The doctor enters to discuss your diagnosis with a life-size, 3D replica of a heart.
Not just any heart, but your heart, which the doctor uses to show — not tell — you the culprit of your symptoms.
The practice is known as 3D point-of-care additive manufacturing, a specialized field of 3D printing. While already common in dentistry where custom aligners are printed on demand, it’s still considered niche for the health care industry at large.
But Meng Zhang has a vision — of hospitals and veterinary practices nationwide with 3D printing labs to manufacture anatomical models, custom prosthetics and engineered tissues that could revolutionize care.
Crucial connections
Unsatisfied with wishful thinking, Zhang is taking action through a multi-institutional, multidisciplinary course that prepares K-State engineering students to lead the charge.
“In point-of-care additive manufacturing, engineers understand how to produce a 3D-printed product, but they must also understand the need — and the data — from the health care practitioners,” he said. “Professional communication training then forms the bridge between the two languages.”
It’s a tall order, so for his IMSE 664: Additive Manufacturing class, Zhang is joined by faculty experts in manufacturing, tissue engineering, sociology and pulmonology from several partner institutions. Students meet twice per week in the classroom and once in the additive manufacturing teaching lab, where they solve challenges like printing foot scans for custom orthotic shoe insoles.
Printing out potential
Today, point-of-care additive manufacturing gives us more personalized medical and dental solutions that lead to better patient outcomes, faster service and lower costs. But Zhang is certain it’s about to play an even more significant role.
“Ten years from now, the ultimate goal would be for scientists to create a fully functional organ,” Zhang said.
