fig1

Figure 1. (A) Identify an institution that has the case volume and proper imaging equipment to support a self-sufficient 3D printing lab; (B) recruit a lead physician (surgeon, radiologist, etc.) to champion 3D printing efforts; (C) utilize tumor board, trauma cases, and other clinical scenarios that identify a wide range of patients who could benefit from 3D models; (D) ensure proper cross-sectional imaging (CT/MRI) Digital Imaging and Communications in Medicine (DICOM) access; (E) ensure DICOM storage for selected patients remaining under the institution’s HIPAA-protected firewall; (F) engineering team manipulates each patient’s specific imaging and creates 3D Computer-Aided Design (CAD); (G) final CAD model print execution per clinical requirements; (H) quality control for proper sterilization and model preparation for clinical use in the operating room; (I) feedback loop between Quality Control & Inspection and Segmentation and Creation of Models to improve future prints; (J) deliver the model for clinical application per institutional requirements; and (K) feedback loop between Clinical Application and 3D Printing to improve future prints. Reprinted by permission from: Springer Nature Journal of Materials Research (Establishing a point-of-care additive manufacturing workflow for clinical use, Daoud et al.[13]), 2021.