Heart Transplant Procedure Aided By 3D Printed Heart Model

A team of researchers in Dublin, Ireland recently released details of a project to print a full color model of a patient's heart in preparation for a complex surgery. The procedure to be performed was a heart transplant surgery on a 41-year-old patient suffering from end stage heart failure due a number of congenital heart defects. Rather than 'going in blind,' so to speak, the medical team was able to examine a full color, 3D printed model of the patient's heart prior to surgery in order to be fully prepared. This is just one example of this type of use of 3D printed models as aides to the performance of surgical procedures. Read the full story here:
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