On top of its massive 3D printing portfolio and Quickparts services, 3D Systems also has an extensive medical design and 3D printing wing. Today, the company has announced two significant programs that could foreshadow the future of medicine altogether: the release of “first-ever virtual reality robotic prostatectomy simulation training”, as well as patient-specific 3D printed kidney models for surgical planning and training, developed in partnership with Tulane University School of Medicine .
According to the American Cancer Society, more than 220,000 men in the US will be diagnosed with prostate cancer this year, with 1 in 7 men being diagnosed over the course of a lifetime. To treat the problem, prostatectomy procedures remove the entire prostate gland. 80% of these procedures in the US are, the National Cancer Institute states, conducted using the minimally invasive Robotic Assisted Radical Prostatectomy (RARP) technique. To step in and train the surgeons that will perform this surgery is 3D Systems, with its RobotiX Mentor training module.
The RobotiX Mentor allows trainees to practice the surgery in a virtual environment using step-by-step guidance, performance metrics, anatomy recognition, and a video-based curriculum. The additional LAP Mentor Express simulator even provides laparoscopic assistants training to aid the primary surgeon in the virtual procedure. 3DS Vice President and Chief Technology Officer of Healthcare, Ran Bronstein, elaborates on the system’s potential for healthcare, “The addition of the Prostatectomy Module changes the future of Robotic Urology training. 3D Systems is committed to supporting medical advancements that ultimately affect patient safety by providing innovative products that range from virtual reality training systems to patient-specific soft tissue 3D printed models.” You can see a video of the RobotiX in action here.
In addition to their new RobotiX system, 3DS has also developed a new series of soft, 3D printed kidney models for surgical training. Unlike the majority of pre-surgical models we’ve covered on 3DPI, the models developed by 3DS in tandem with surgeons at Tulane University School of Medicine actually have the texture and consistency of the kidneys on which they will actually operate. By converting a patient’s medical imaging data into a 3D printable model, doctors are able to create a soft and flexible model via multi-material 3D printing. The kidney model can then be used to train med-students, plan surgeries, or practice procedures before operation.
Dr. Jonathan Silberstein, Assistant Professor of Urology and Chief of Urologic Oncology at Tulane, says of the technology, “Individualized patient-specific soft tissue 3D printing allows surgeons and trainees the opportunity to operate on a model that looks and feels just like their patient’s kidney tumor. This technology has the potential to reinvent the way we teach and train our young surgeons and for experienced surgeons adapting to a new technology such as robotics, it will flatten the learning curve.”
To me, what these technologies represent, in addition to the future of surgery planning, is 3D Systems’ grasp of the evolving mixed reality/reality computing ecosystem, which encompasses 3D scanning, 3D printing, VR, and haptic devices, all of which can be found in the company’s growing healthcare division. Both pieces of tech will be on display at the Annual Meeting for the American Urological Association in New Orleans from today until May 19. When these tools become widespread through the medical community, however, remains to be seen.
