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Novel 3D-printing technique for caps to enable tailored therapeutic endoscopy
Weon Jin Ko1, Ga Won Song1, Sung Pyo Hong1
1Digestive Disease Center, CHA Bundang Medical Center, CHA University, Seongnam, Korea.
Background And Aim:
To evaluate the feasibility of a tailored endoscopic cap created using 3D-printing technology that is customized according to esophagogastric lesions of each patient.
Methods:
Tailored endoscopic caps, which were designed and fabricated with a 3D printer, were inserted in 35 patients. The types of cap were side-hole cap made for cap-assisted endoscopic mucosal resection (EMRC), oblique-head cap designed for endoscopic submucosal dissection (ESD), wide-head cap used for Trucut biopsy (TCB), and narrow-tip cap to facilitate peroral endoscopic myotomy (POEM).
Results:
EMRC in the esophagus and gastroesophageal junction was carried out using a side-hole cap in seven patients. Median total procedure time for successful removal of lesions was 14 min (range 8-50 min). Gastric ESD was carried out using with an oblique-head cap in 16 patients, for which the median total procedure time was 53 min. TCB in the esophagus was done using a wide-head cap in eight patients. While carrying out POEM for tunneling, a narrow-tip cap was used in four patients with achalasia.
Conclusion:
Based on the current proof-of-concept study, we anticipate that creating a tailored endoscopic cap is feasible for therapeutic endoscopy.
