Conference presents new model for heart surgery
A 3D printed heart model
Shanghai Children’s Medical Center is using 3D printing to build exact models of the hearts of children with very complicated congenital heart diseases for pre-surgery analysis and even trials of the surgery itself.
Doctors from leading hospitals overseas will participate in discussions of the most complicated cases, including biventricle conversion on Monday.
A total of 13 children between 3 and 5 years old with single ventricles will receive surgery next week. The repair is considered the most challenging for congenital heart disease, according to the 9th Shanghai Conference on Pediatric Cardiovascular Disease and Seminar on Pediatric Cardiac and Vascular Engineering and Technology on Saturday.
Congenital heart disease is the top inborn deformity in China. About 5 percent of children with congenital heart disease have single ventricle, which greatly impacts their life quality and survival rate.
“We have started to use 3D printing to build model hearts of children with complicated conditions as time is limited in real surgery. The longer the surgery, the more risk involved,” said Dr Liu Jinfen from Shanghai Children’s Medical Center. “The 3D models give us a better understanding and allows us to discuss different methods. It can greatly shorten surgery time and prevent unexpected problems.”
The medical center has a heart virtual reality engineering technology research center, which uses 3D printing, VR technology and other engineering techniques to help in clinical practice, education and research. It has collected data and models in over 100 complicated cases.
