Current Use of Three-dimensional Model Technology in Urology: A Road Map for Personalised Surgical Planning

Despite the current era of "precision surgery", an unmet need for an optimal surgical planning and navigation still remains for most genitourinary malignancies. In this setting, the 3D virtual reconstruction of 2D cross-sectional imaging has been increasingly adopted to facilitate the surgeon in better understanding the surgical anatomy.

To provide a short overview of the most recent evidences on the current applications of 3D virtual and printed reconstructions in urologic surgery.

A non-systematic review of the literature was performed. Medline, PubMed, the Cochrane Database and Embase were screened for studies regarding the use of 3D models in urology.

3D reconstruction technology has been primarily implemented with the purpose of surgical planning and navigation, especially in the management of prostate and kidney cancer. Augmented reality is still in a rudimental phase, especially in the field of prostate cancer. The (poor) Literature already published suggests that the 3D virtual and printed models could be helpful for the comprehension and learning of the surgical strategy by the young urologists and, at the meantime, could enhance the quality of the dialog with the patients, giving them a direct perception of the disease and its treatment.

Notwithstanding the current limitations and the sporadic experiences available in the Literature, 3D models technology is perceived as a useful tool for the surgical planning, especially in the field of kidney and prostate cancer, physician education/training and patient counselling.

In the field of prostate and kidney cancer, the optimal surgical planning and the patient counselling seems to be improved by the use of 3D reconstruction technology based on the preoperative imaging.