Spine surgery is an elegant and demanding profession that requires finesse, but also sometimes requires longer stamina on revisions and deformity cases. There are many technologies that have been proposed to improve outcomes or reduce stress on surgeons and, in some cases, when implemented can improve accuracy of diagnosis and procedural performance. However, one technology that has been mostly overlooked within the specialty is a way of more accurately understanding the underlying anatomy and biomechanics: the 3D printer.
It is easy enough to say that you understand all of the images presented, but it is another thing to understand what it takes to look at them from different angles and even more importantly, to understand that no CT, MRI or x-ray image (other than maybe Cinefluoroscopy) allows you to look at the spine in a dynamic way and not even that allows you to re-imagine what it would look after intervention.
Creating 3D models of both generic and patient specific anatomy has allowed me to appreciate new perspectives that were not visible on individual cuts of a scan. This has allowed me to develop new approaches as well as to improve my understanding of how all the pieces fit together and the relative position of structures, both bony and soft tissue, in all aspects of the neurologic system as well as to see the impact normal and abnormal motion they have on all of these structures. Creating these 3D models not only improves my understanding of the condition, but for many patients it is also the key to understanding their own condition, after all, “… a picture is worth a thousand words”.
What is a 3D model worth that you can hold in your hand and roll over to look at the anatomy for yourself? It is important for surgeons, as clinicians and as innovators, to not only incorporate the latest technology being pushed by industry, but also be open to other potentially more fascinating and transformative technologies to improve our and our patients’ understandings of their conditions. A good 3D printer isn’t on anybody’s list of technology to purchase when starting a practice. Perhaps it should be.