| Title |
3D Printed Surgical Instruments: The Design and Fabrication Process
|
|---|---|
| Published in |
World Journal of Surgery, November 2016
|
| DOI | 10.1007/s00268-016-3814-5 |
| Pubmed ID | |
| Authors |
Mitchell George, Kevin R. Aroom, Harvey G. Hawes, Brijesh S. Gill, Joseph Love |
| Abstract |
3D printing is an additive manufacturing process allowing the creation of solid objects directly from a digital file. We believe recent advances in additive manufacturing may be applicable to surgical instrument design. This study investigates the feasibility, design and fabrication process of usable 3D printed surgical instruments. The computer-aided design package SolidWorks (Dassault Systemes SolidWorks Corp., Waltham MA) was used to design a surgical set including hemostats, needle driver, scalpel handle, retractors and forceps. These designs were then printed on a selective laser sintering (SLS) Sinterstation HiQ (3D Systems, Rock Hill SC) using DuraForm EX plastic. The final printed products were evaluated by practicing general surgeons for ergonomic functionality and performance, this included simulated surgery and inguinal hernia repairs on human cadavers. Improvements were identified and addressed by adjusting design and build metrics. Repeated manufacturing processes and redesigns led to the creation of multiple functional and fully reproducible surgical sets utilizing the user feedback of surgeons. Iterative cycles including design, production and testing took an average of 3 days. Each surgical set was built using the SLS Sinterstation HiQ with an average build time of 6 h per set. Functional 3D printed surgical instruments are feasible. Advantages compared to traditional manufacturing methods include no increase in cost for increased complexity, accelerated design to production times and surgeon specific modifications. |
X Demographics
The data shown below were collected from the profiles of 8 X users who shared this research output. Click here to find out more about how the information was compiled.
Geographical breakdown
| Country | Count | As % |
|---|---|---|
| United States | 4 | 50% |
| Belgium | 1 | 13% |
| Colombia | 1 | 13% |
| Switzerland | 1 | 13% |
| Unknown | 1 | 13% |
Demographic breakdown
| Type | Count | As % |
|---|---|---|
| Members of the public | 5 | 63% |
| Scientists | 2 | 25% |
| Science communicators (journalists, bloggers, editors) | 1 | 13% |
Mendeley readers
The data shown below were compiled from readership statistics for 179 Mendeley readers of this research output. Click here to see the associated Mendeley record.
Geographical breakdown
| Country | Count | As % |
|---|---|---|
| Mexico | 1 | <1% |
| Unknown | 178 | 99% |
Demographic breakdown
| Readers by professional status | Count | As % |
|---|---|---|
| Student > Master | 25 | 14% |
| Student > Ph. D. Student | 24 | 13% |
| Student > Bachelor | 14 | 8% |
| Researcher | 13 | 7% |
| Student > Doctoral Student | 9 | 5% |
| Other | 35 | 20% |
| Unknown | 59 | 33% |
| Readers by discipline | Count | As % |
|---|---|---|
| Engineering | 49 | 27% |
| Medicine and Dentistry | 25 | 14% |
| Materials Science | 7 | 4% |
| Chemistry | 5 | 3% |
| Biochemistry, Genetics and Molecular Biology | 4 | 2% |
| Other | 21 | 12% |
| Unknown | 68 | 38% |
Attention Score in Context
This research output has an Altmetric Attention Score of 303. This is our high-level measure of the quality and quantity of online attention that it has received. This Attention Score, as well as the ranking and number of research outputs shown below, was calculated when the research output was last mentioned on 05 January 2024.
All research outputs
#111,823
of 25,113,446 outputs
Outputs from World Journal of Surgery
#11
of 4,532 outputs
Outputs of similar age
#2,316
of 319,516 outputs
Outputs of similar age from World Journal of Surgery
#2
of 75 outputs
Altmetric has tracked 25,113,446 research outputs across all sources so far. Compared to these this one has done particularly well and is in the 99th percentile: it's in the top 5% of all research outputs ever tracked by Altmetric.
So far Altmetric has tracked 4,532 research outputs from this source. They typically receive a little more attention than average, with a mean Attention Score of 6.7. This one has done particularly well, scoring higher than 99% of its peers.
Older research outputs will score higher simply because they've had more time to accumulate mentions. To account for age we can compare this Altmetric Attention Score to the 319,516 tracked outputs that were published within six weeks on either side of this one in any source. This one has done particularly well, scoring higher than 99% of its contemporaries.
We're also able to compare this research output to 75 others from the same source and published within six weeks on either side of this one. This one has done particularly well, scoring higher than 98% of its contemporaries.