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How to know if your clinical case is appropriate for 3D printing? Check the RSNA guidelines.

These guidelines are furthermore influential as they will support new billing codes, called CPT codes, for Point-of-Care 3D Printing, which are due to implemented in July this year. These initial CPT codes make it possible to collect more data on the prevalence of 3D printing and for what cases it is used across U.S. hospitals and will ultimately pave the way for further reimbursement initiatives.

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How Medical 3D Printing is Gaining Ground in Top Hospitals

Recently, many hospitals have started making a shift, from using medical images primarily for diagnostic purposes, to integrating them in patient-specific surgical planning. This has created enormous advantages for hospitals and their patients, and is largely supported by the expanding role of the radiologist as imaging expert.

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3 Ways Virtual Reality Can Supplement Your Medical 3D Printing Activities (And 3 Ways It Won’t)

VR tools have taken the gaming world by storm, but an application that keenly interests Materialise is the potential of virtual reality for multidisciplinary collaboration and education. For medical training, visualization in virtual reality could serve as the perfect supplement to 3D printing. Here are three benefits VR/AR setups can bring to a hospital’s training program, and three pitfalls to watch out for.

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How Hospitals Can Benefit from Digital Orthopaedic Planning

Preoperative planning and templating enables orthopaedic surgeons to prepare for joint replacement surgery, limit the risk of intraoperative complications, and improve patient communication. These advantages translate into direct benefits for the hospital as well, ranging from more efficient implant stock management to a significant reduction in complications and complaints. Consultant Orthopaedic Surgeon Dr. Ross Barker (United Kingdom) explains why the hospital benefits as well when he uses Materialise OrthoView to digitally plan orthopaedic cases.

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How to 3D Print Multicolored Models with Formlabs SLA

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In-house 3D Printing at Mayo Clinic: the highlights

Jonathan M. Morris, M.D is a neuroradiologist at Mayo Clinic in Minnesota, U.S. and has been using 3D Printing for 16 years. At the Materialise World Summit, we had the pleasure of watching Dr. Morris give a breathtaking keynote presentation. He captured the audience with stories of his own experience with Medical 3D Printing and 3D visualization, and what's been done since the lab's implementation at Mayo Clinic over the past eight years.

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Increased Efficiency and Less Invasive Surgery with Patient-Specific Knee Guides

Picture this. It’s morning. A patient walks in a clinic, experiencing knee pain at every step. That same day, the same patient walks home, without the pain from before. The patient just had a total knee replacement operation.

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Why Preoperative 3D Planning Tools Will Replace Conventional Imaging Tools

Orthopaedica Belgica hosted orthopedics experts and 600+ participants at their yearly event in Brussels not so long ago. It featured an entire morning session on pre-operative templating in total shoulder arthroplasty. Here are highlights from presentations that were focused on 3D planning and patient-specific implants

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From Superhero Mask to New Face and New Life Thanks to 3D-Printed CMF Implants

Imagine being called a freak all throughout your life. It’s exactly what happened to Carlos Askew. Born with hemi-facial microsomia, the 21-year-old Kiwi never fit in, no matter how hard he tried. Growing up, the youngster preferred hiding behind the mask of his favorite superheroes instead. Until consultant maxillofacial surgeon Dr. Derek Goodisson (New Zealand) used TruMatch® CMF 3D-printed patient-specific titanium implants to mitigate his facial deformity. This pioneering operation was a first in New Zealand and, more importantly, enabled Carlos to face the world anew.

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Planning a Valgus Osteotomy for a Femoral Neck Fracture Non Union

Digital pre-operative planning for challenging procedures can increase the chances of a successful and more predictable outcome, as was the case for a female runner who suffered a displaced right femoral neck stress fracture that failed to heal with conservative treatment. To improve her quality of life, the orthopaedic trauma surgeon and assistant-professor of orthopaedic surgery Dr. Samir Mehta, MD used Materialise OrthoView to pre-operatively plan a valgus osteotomy for femoral neck fracture non-union.

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