14 DAY TRIAL // Surgeons have a pretty tough job, and even the operations they conduct that turn out well prove draining and stressful at best. Especially when they don't have much in the way of means to prepare for every thing that can go wrong.
After so many decades of doctors saving or trying to save lives by cutting people up, there is quite a long list of things that can go wrong, and most professional surgeons make a point of memorizing as much of it as they can.
They also double-check the relevant parts before each surgery they embark on.
In recent years, though, they have been able to better plan their interventions thanks to 3D printing technology.
3D scans can be made based on MRIs and 3D models of the affected areas can be 3D printed, to better explain to their patients what they would do and to plan the surgery's steps.
The models can show the areas affected by a break, infection, or tumor a lot better than scan sheets.
And here is the latest example of 3D printed-assisted surgical practices: an open rib cage.
Dr. Katherine Barsness, an associate professor in Surgery and Medical Education at Northwestern, called on the help of engineers at the University’s Feinberg School of Medicine’s Innovation Lab, as well as the McCormick School of Engineering and Applied Sciences.
She asked them to make model rib cages that would be used in the simulations that pediatric surgeons go as part of their training. You can see them in the attached gallery. Grizzly things, aren't they? At least they're dry.
