Ricerc@Sapienza

Rapid prototyping and additive manifacturing, also known as three-dimensional (3D) printing, is a recent technologic advancement that enables accurate construction of 3D objects from imaging data, with great utility in supporting the diagnosis and planning of surgical and interventional procedures and a potential for advancing medical device design.
In this research, we will use the 3D printing methods and its potential in chest radiology and thoracic surgery in order to simplify the anatomic study, simulate and plan surgical thoracic interventions and developing devices.
The aim of our research is to demonstrate the actual improvement of 3D printing in thoracic surgery planning and its outcomes by recruiting two groups of patients: Group I: patients undergoing pulmonary lobectomy studied with 3D reconstruction and model printing. Group 2: patients undergoing pulmonary lobectomy studied with preoperative standard CT.
First the radiologist fabricates a 3D model, following a three-step pattern: chest image acquisition, image post-processing and 3D printing.
That gives a detailed preoperative evaluation of the patient¿s anatomy and it is essential for preventing complications.
The main and possible fields of the research include the study of congenital airway diseases (in particular TBM in infants and children) and congenital bronchial abnormalities; thoracoscopic lobectomy with fissureless technique in patients with incomplete or fused fissures to reduce the air leak; thoracoscopic segmentectomy; thoracoscopic lung surgery in a patient with rare anatomic variations; mediastinal tumor resection and bronchoscopic lung volume reduction in emphysema using one-way valves.