3D printing in medicine: bridging imaging, education, and practice

3D printing is an additive manufacturing technology. The methodology involves designing the object in a digital environment, in a CAD (Computer-Aided Design) computer program, which then converts the 3D image file into an STL (Standard Triangulation Language) file to be loaded and read by the printer. In the first two decades of the twentieth century, the main technology that caused intense discussions, since the first stereolithography technique used by Charles Hull in 1983, has been the conversion of digital models into physical objects. 3D printers became commercially available in the 1980s, with the market growing exponentially in the 1990s and 2000s. Medical applications for 3D printing have been reported since 1990. Stereolithographic modeling of cardiac structures was described by Binder in 2000 for better diagnostic access and surgical planning. In improving healthcare, 3D printing, i.e. the conversion of digital models into physical objects, plays an important and multiple/multifaceted role.