Surgical spirit: Improving patient care with 3D printing

King’s College Hospital improves patient care for complex cranio-maxillofacial disfigurement procedures since integrating Stratasys 3D printing.

After several years of solely relying on surgical experience and extended theatre times, King’s College Hospital – one of the UK’s largest major trauma centres – turned to Stratasys PolyJet 3D printing technology. Using its Objet Eden250 3D Printer, the hospital 3D prints super-fine-detailed planning models for all of its maxillofacial procedures, enhancing its treatment delivery of complex facial disfigurement cases and helping surgeons pre-empt potential surgical complications.

Originally founded as a training facility in 1840, King’s College Hospital has established itself as one of London’s busiest teaching hospitals and is internationally renowned for its pioneering work in patient treatment, particularly within liver and foetal medicine. With over 170 years’ experience, the hospital is also recognised as a national specialist in dealing with trauma cases across a range of departments, including maxillofacial care.

Maxillofacial care by its very nature demands a high-level of surgical experience to successfully complete the procedure. King’s College Hospital is a major regional centre for facial and jaw surgery, which Dr Hatamleh and his colleagues play a crucial role in supporting. The hospital has eight surgeones that carry out over 1200 planned craniofacial (skull) and maxillofacial (face and jaw) procedures every year. This figure doesn’t include trauma surgery carried out to faces and jaws in the immediate aftermath of injury occurring.

Using 3D printed models for pre-surgery planning

After several years of extended theatre times and limited surgical planning materials, the maxillofacial department turned to Stratasys PolyJet 3D printing technology to produce highly-accurate, customised surgical planning models. Using its Objet Eden250 3D Printer, the hospital converts 2D CT scans of the patient into replica 3D printed models for its maxillofacial, neurosurgery and orthopaedic departments. With the anatomical models, the surgeons can perform complex procedures prior to the operation and highlight any problematic areas before making any incision on the patient.

“With 3D printing, surgeons already have an idea of what the procedure entails before the patient is under anaesthetic,” said Dr Hatamleh. “In the case of skull meningioma, where there is a tumour growing in the skull, the surgeon needs to remove the tumour and restore the skull at the same surgery. Producing a 3D model of the skull with the tumour enables our surgeons to clearly visualise the outcome of the surgery before it is performed and make better decisions on the size of the implant required to restore the skull defect after removing the tumour.  

“Since incorporating 3D printing into our planning, even the most complex cases do not surpass long operating hours. This means that, the hospital is able to potentially make some significant savings using this technology,” he added.

According to Dr Hatamleh, King’s College Hospital now produces 3D printed planning models for 100% of its maxillofacial surgery and neurosurgery and beyond reductions in operating times and costs, 3D printing is also playing a crucial role in directly improving patient care.

“Using this technology, we can produce around several different models simultaneously in super-fine 16 micron layers. This resolution is crucial in retaining specific details of individual patients’ anatomy,” explained Dr Hatamleh. “For us, having a 3D printed model for restoring skull defects-cranioplasties is a must. It enables us to correctly fill the defect to normal contours, which is then reproduced in hard stone that is used in swaging a titanium plate in place. The plate is then is implanted, to not only restore the missing skull contours, but also protect the brain parenchyma. Overall, this improves patients’ confidence and quality of life”.