Keith Murphy, CEO of Organovo, stated that his company will be able to 3D print partial organs within the next 4-6 years. These partial organs could be used to repair damaged organs, such as the liver, providing valuable time to patients as they await a full transplant.

Dr. Vives, Head of the Maxillofacial Surgery Department at the University Hospital of La Réunion, used a patient-specific mini-plate system from OBL, a Materialise company, to return Maxime’s eye to a physically and aesthetically comfortable position.

Surgeons in St. Thomas NHS copied live prostate to practice removal of cancerous gland while sparing the nerves. It is a historical breakthrough as copy of organ was used to practice the original surgery right before.

Researchers at UPCI and CMU are planning to use 3D printed models for studying breast pre-cancerous disease. This will aid in avoiding over-diagnosis and over-treatment of the tumor by creating 3d bioprinted breast ductal structure.

A newly diagnosed brain cancer has poor prognosis, but Dr. Shu and Dr. Leslie at Heriot-Watt University believe their research can be the landmark of future. Lab growth cancer cells are useless, but 3D printed cancer cells can mimic body environment. This can help this team discover more effective and responsive treatment for brain cancer.

Australian neurosurgeon, Ralph Mobbs, successfully removed cancer-riddled vertebrae of his patient Drage Josevski who was suffering from Chordoma. After removal, the 3D printed body part was used as replacement for the vertebrae. After 15 hour surgery, patient was under screening for progress.

Scottish scientists from the Heriot-Watt University in Edinburgh have successfully 3D printed a brain tumor including the Glioblastoma. They believe it will help them develop treatment plans to help 250,000 cancer sufferers worldwide.

Italy’s National Institute of Rome Tumori Regina Elena, Cancer surgical center, became the first hospital in the nation to use customized titanium implants to repair bones damaged by bone cancer (Osteosarcoma). The prosthetic implants were 3D printed in titanium using an Arcam electron beam melting (EBM) process with Sicily-based 3D printing services provider Mt. Ortho.

A patient from South Korea, formerly serving in military, suffered a cancerous tumor in his heel, for which Dr. Hyun Guy had to either amputate the foot or approach conventional techniques. Approaching 3D Printing, Doctors at National Cancer 3d printed the heel bone implant of patient avoiding the former options.

Dr. Francis Patterson, the Attending Musculoskeletal Oncology Physician and Assistant Professor at University Hospital in Newark, was helped with 3D Printed model of a tumor which was to be resected from a patient's pelvic region. The CT scan and Imaging technology of the patient’s pelvic tumor and surrounding bone and tissues were used to 3D print the model .

Drage Josevski was diagnosed with Chordoma, a rare type of bone cancer, which grew in his spine. Dr. Ralph Mobbs of the Sydney Spine Clinic turned to medical device company Anatomics seeking help with this case, which finally produced 3D printed titanium implant that would replace the cancerous vertebrae. The operation took 15 hours and was successful one.

Shirley Anderson lost his lower jaw after surgery and radiotherapy for his tongue cancer diagnosed in 1998. However, meeting with Dr. Travis Bellicchi, a maxillofacial prosthetics specialist, he received a 3D Printed Jaw prosthetic printed from Formalabs 3D Printer.

Linda Green, inhabitant of Utah, had a malignant tumor underneath her ribs which required to be removed before it could spread to other organs. Using 3D reconstruction and 3D Printing, Dr. Jay Bishoff from Intermountain Medical Center, was able to excise the tumor without damaging any vital part of Linda.

First 3D Printed Titanium Spinal Implant was successfully used in patient surnamed Yuan diagnosed with malignant tumor on his back. Performed at Beijing University Third Hospital, Dr. Liu Zhongjun explained how 3D Printing was the best option to be used for 19 cm replacement of backbone.

Faculty of Medicine at the University of Rijeka completed a complicated operation by attaching a 3D-printed ear to a patient who lost his ear due to skin cancer (Basal Cell Carcinoma). On February 20, Dr. Dubravko Manestar attached the ear which was made from biocompatible silicone.

Melbourne neurosurgeon Paul d'Urso and founder of Anatomics had been making customized 3D print cranial implants such as custom sternum and ribcage for cancer patients. But the Australian Private Funds have denied rebates as the 3D printed implants are not regulated or listed on the federal government's Prostheses list. They are looking forward for more support so that the industry would be able to process Australia's abundant titanium into the inks and powders used in 3D printing.

A 53-year old patient was admitted to Bangalore's Health Care Global Hospital complaining of mouth ulcer, which was later diagnosed as Tongue cancer using the MRI scan. Surgical oncologist Dr. Vishal Rao and his team with Anatomiz3D used the MRI scan to create a 3D Model of patient's tongue which enabled them to digitally separate the tumor from the tongue and perform the surgery.

AMBER Materials Science Center, Ireland, are working on bone grafts through 3D Printing, either via autografting or allografting by inserting the bioprinted materials and patient's stem cells subcutaneously and regenerating the bone. Funded by Science Foundation, Ireland and hosted at Trinity College, Dublin; this new method will provide less painful, successful and affordable reach to the patients with Cancerous tumors or suffering bone defects.

A team of researchers at Samsung Medical Center announced that they have a successful method for using 3D printing to rebuild the jawbones of oral cancer patients. Led by Professor Baek Chung-hwan of the department of otolaryngology, the medical team created a 3D printed surgical guide that allows them to rebuild areas of the jaw as well as eliminating areas that are ridden with cancer. The team was able to perform surgery and reconstruction all at once, using the new bone made from the patient’s leg bone, fibula.

A team of scientists in New Zealand are 3D Printing Tumor cells using real cells and then using them to develop new treatment plans for Breast Cancer. Dr. Elisabeth Phillips and Khoon Lim, also of the University of Otago, came up with the 3D printing idea and obtained funding to research breast cancer through bioprinted tumors. The team believes it is first of its kind in New Zealand following 3D printing of brain tumor cells in Scotland.

Researchers from Institute for Integrative Nanosciences (IIN) at IFW Dresden in are working to develop a Biohybrid Sperm Microbot, which could be used in the future to deliver anti-cancer drugs like doxorubicin hydrochloride to cancerous tumors in women’s reproductive tracts, and help in cancer like Cervical Cancer. The tests had already been successful, the team is just working to make the invisible drug delivery system a bit more accessible to hospitals and simultaneously monitor the spermbot’s movement inside the body in real time.

Cellink, a Swedish 3D Printing Company founded by Erik Gatenholm and Hector Martinez Avila, has announced their partnership with CTI Biotech, a French company based in Lyon, to fabricate tumors that can be used for pharmaceuticals testing. The ability to mix their own inks with cells from patients’ cancers will allow them to produce tumors that can be subjected to intense research without endangering human lives and simultaneously remove animal testing.

Researchers at Ghent University have developed a 3D bioprinted model of a scaffold from PLA that more accurately replicates the size, porosity and mechanical and biochemical properties of peritoneal metastasis to treat Cancer. Cancerous cells are then cultivated for testing after which they implanted their model in the peritoneal cavities of a mice to test its working in vivo.

Linh Nam, a Harvard College Student was diagnosed with Osteosarcoma, a cancerous tumor in the bone when she was just ten years old and had a section of bone removed from her leg with a gap left and upcoming 10 surgeries over a decade. However, she joined with Hala Zreiqat, biomedical engineering professor, to work on a project that aims to create a biocompatible, artificial material with the same strength and porosity as real bone using 3D printing. Professor Zreigat’s team finally found a way to generate a porous core of a novel multi-component ceramic for bone implants using 3D printing which will be available to public around 2019.

Researchers’ team from Louisiana State University led by Wayne Newhauser, director of the medical physics program at LSU, is working towards creating better Phantoms—models used as patient dummies when figuring out treatments and dosages. Using these dummies, the research team plans to carry out multiple trials of treatment for Cancer using Radiation therapy to kill neoplastic cancer cells in human bodies. These 3D Printed Phantoms are relatively cheaper method and quicker means to accessing information against Cancer.

Researchers from MIT and Draper University have developed a 3D Printed Microfluidic Device called Tumor Analysis Platform or TAP that simulates cancer treatments on biopsied cancerous tissue. 3D Printable in about an hour, the Chip device uses the biopsied tumor fragments placement in a chamber connected to a network of deliver fluids to the tissue and contains a new type of biocompatible resin, Pro3dure GR-10 Resin, that can support the long-term survival of biopsied tissue. The TAP is cheap and easy to fabricate and adaptable for clinical use.

A Team of Researchers from UK experimented on using 3D Printing to create Orally disintegrating tablets (ODTs) of Ondansetron, a drug used in Vomiting receiving Chemotherapy, with the help of SLS 3D printing. The researchers developed a new type of ondansetron-cyclodextrin complexes meant to disintegrate rapidly, which were compared to Vonau Flash 8 mg, a commercial example of Ondansetron. Both 3D printed formulations disintegrated at ~15 s and released more than 90% of the drug within 5 min independent of the mannitol content, thus concluding that these results were comparable to those obtained with the commercial product with added benefit of using a manufacturing technology able to prepare medicines individualized to the patient.

Researchers from China worked on a study that involved comparing 3D Print in pre-operative care to three-dimensional computed tomography (3D-CT) in Thoracoscopic Pulmonary Segmentectomy for Cancer Patients. 124 selected patients were divided into three groups- General, 3D-T and 3D Printing; and Pre-operative 3D image reconstruction was performed to view and reconstruct 3D images of the nodules, bronchi, and pulmonary vessels and the models were then printed on a Lite600HD 3D printer. 3D Printing Group was found to have decreased Intraoperative blood loss and reduced time of procedures.

Read More: https://www.ncbi.nlm.nih.gov/pmc/articles/PMC6976356/

A 3D Printing Course Additive was released by Researchers from US and Canada, further strengthening the Radiological Society of North America (RSNA) 2018 Hands-On 3D printing course, which aims at creating 3D Printed cranio-maxillofacial (CMF), orthopaedic, and renal cancer models using 3D Printing, Augmented Reality (AR) and Virtual Reality (VR). The image processing was provided by Mimics inPrint, allowing the researchers to fabricate anatomic regions of interest from the DICOM data. Three cases were followed: Pelvic fracture, Mandible tumour and Kidney tumour where 3D printed models were used to plan the pre-operative as well as reduce time and increase efficacy of the surgeries.

Researchers from China worked towards upgrading the routes of administering Anti-Cancer drugs using 3D Printing. With interstitial permanent radioactive seed implantation, cancer patients can receive large, localized doses for treating tumours. While most seeds are implanted using Ultrasound or CT these days, the research revolved around using 3D-PCT-guided seed implantation, assisted by CT processes, which makes implantation is ‘suitable’ for salvage treatment of recurrent and metastatic solid tumours. The Standard workflows for CT-assisted 3D-PCT-guided seed implantation included: Patient position fixation, CT-simulated positioning, Pre-planning design, 3D-PCT image production, Stabilization by 3D-PCT, Needle puncture for seed implantation, Implantation of seeds and Post-plan evaluation.

Christen Boyer, a Bioprinting engineer and recent Postdoctoral Fellow at LSU Health Sciences Center in Shreveport, along with vascular cell biologist, tissue engineer, and professor at LSU Health Sciences Center, Steven Alexander; have developed a new technology to 3D Print Polyvinyl Alcohol (PVA) Medical Devices. The method generates biologically compatible 3D printing scaffolds that support cell engraftment because of the high level of protein binding, which is a result of the stabilization process. Working along with Hrishikesh Samant, a transplant surgeon at LSU Health, Boyer and Alexander came up with a novel crosslinked PVA (XL-PVA) 3D printed stent infused with collagen, human placental mesenchymal stem cells (PMSCs), and cholangiocytes. The customized living biliary stents have clinical applications in the setting of malignant and benign bile duct obstructions.

Scientists from US and China collaborated on a study to integrate Virtual and 3D Printing Applications into postoperative treatment of cancer. They shared 5 Cases of: Malignant Fibrous Histiocytoma; 3 × 3 cm Right neck mass discovered during examination for a stroke; 5.0 × 4.5 cm Mass in left cheek- Adenoid Cystic Carcinoma; 2.5 × 3.5 cm left Gingival Squamous Cell Carcinoma and 5 cm left Sub-Mucosal Oral Cavity Lesion. They explained how 3D Printing assisted with CAD/CAM and Virtual Reality assisted them in creating medical models prior to surgery and planning better outcomes.

Authors Linglong Deng, Xing Zhao, Chi Wei, Wengiang Qu, Li Yu, and Shaobo Zhu, wrote their research paper about using 3D Printing in Bone Cancer and its application to create Prosthetic fit for the patient. Chondrosarcoma is an Aggressive Bone Tumour that requires limb salvaging as the only option. The team used 3D Printing to create Prosthesis with Titanium and screwed into the scapula of the patient suffering from Chondrosarcoma. After four weeks, the patient was able to move his hand, elbow, and shoulder, and is still in good condition with no pain in the shoulder.

A Team of researchers from Boston and India used 3D Printing to enhance the Applicators used in PDT for Oral Cancer Treatment. PDT or Photodynamic Therapy is a light based spatially-targeted cytotoxic therapy that targets cancer cells. They developed an Intraoral Light Delivery System consisting of modular 3D Printed Light Applicators with pre-calibrated dosimetry and mouth props that can be utilized to perform PDT in conscious subjects without the need of extensive infrastructure or manual positioning of an optical fiber. The Applicators were tested on five subjects with T1N0M0 oral lesions where no residual cancer cells were noted after the treatment. The team used Autodesk Fusion 360 to design the light applicators, and they were printed on a Stratasys Objet Pro system out of VeroBlue and VeroBlack filament.