Assessment of the Usefulness of Additively Manufactured Anatomical Models in the Process of Preoperative Support and Education

Additive manufacturing reports on technology development indicate medicine as one of the four main areas of application of 3D printing. Anatomical models are understood as products presenting the individual anatomy of an organ and pathology occurring in a patient. These objects manufactured using additive manufacturing methods are used in several important areas of medicine, including: in preoperative preparation, training, education and communication between doctor and patient. The aim of the presented study was to evaluate two types of anatomical models of the same patient. Both products had high transparency of the structures of healthy organs, with one model imitating soft tissue and the other being a hard, only visual model. Additive manufacturing technologies such as polyjet, fused deposition modeling and vacuum casting were used to produce the models. The evaluation took the form of a survey during which a group of specialists in the field of laryngology checked the usefulness of both models and the possibility of implementing such solutions in preoperative preparation and education.