Design World: Medical applications of 3-D printing

The advent of CAD and 3-D printing have led to advances in many industries, including health care.

Frank J. Rybicki, MD, professor and vice chair of quality and safety in the University of Cincinnati College of Medicine's Department of Radiology, spoke with Design World about the use of 3-D medical models. In 2019, the American Medical Association approved four initial codes used to submit reimbursement requests for 3-D printed models as part of medical procedures.

“The American College of Radiology and the Radiological Society of North America (RSNA) had been working toward those codes for the changes for some time. Medical models and surgical guides have been 3-D printed for well over a decade, as niche applications, without CPT codes,” Rybicki said. "However, when applying for CPT codes, it became clear that this ‘general acceptance’ lacked peer-reviewed literature to demonstrate value.”

Rybicki founded a RSNA special interest group on 3-D printing that is gathering clinical data with the aim of setting formal code nomenclature and standards of the use of medical 3-D printing.

Read the Design World article.

Featured photo courtesy of Unsplash.