Medical 3D Printing

Doctors, medical students, and patients benefit from 3D medical models. Medical 3D printing creates life-sized, complex models of organs, bones, and systems of the human body that enhance understanding of physical bodily processes and structures.

While 3D simulations, including holographic images, help surgeons “see” organs, high-resolution 3D printing for medical illustration allows medical professionals to show students and patients exactly what physical structures are involved in injury or disease, how those structures interact, and what proposed treatments or procedures are intended to do.

Tangible Creative uses stereolithography (“SLA”) for medical 3D printing. Medical SLA printing uses UV light to cure layers of resin and create realistic 3D medical models that can be painted for a more lifelike appearance. The photosensitive resin used in 3D medical printing can be sanded for smoothness. The result is a tangible model that students, patients, and surgeons can hold in their hands, examine from all angles, and depending on the design, take apart and reassemble. These 3D medical illustrations are invaluable tools in educating students and patients, as well as for doctors contemplating treatments and procedures.

But more than modeling is possible with medical-grade resins: this material is certified biocompatible, meaning it is nontoxic when in contact with living tissue. 3D medical printing can use medical-grade resins to produce dental appliances and surgical tools.

Tangible Creative works with medical experts to use high-resolution 3D printing for medical illustration, to create 3D medical models, and to produce biocompatible devices and tools. We can take medical knowledge and expertise from the realm of ideas to the world of tangible, touchable objects that simulate bodily structures. We can create prototypes of new medical devices, surgical tools, and prosthetics, and we can create detailed, realistic models of medical innovations.

Working with a coalition of makers, Tangible Creative participated in COVID Maker Response together with Columbia University Libraries and MakerBot to produce and distribute thousands of face shields to hospitals in the New York City area in a matter of days. Eventually production ramped up to produce nearly 30,000 face shields, distributed locally and internationally.

Medical schools, hospitals, and medical practices benefit from realistic 3D medical models. These help students and patients understand bodily structures on a realistic scale with a tangible, tactile experience. Contact Tangible Creative for help in brining your medical innovations to life with medical 3D printing.