“The advantage of 3D printed models is to see the dimensions and the locations of and the relationships between structures before entering the operating room. This technology is priceless.”
“3D modeling is enormously exciting. To have a model of a patient’s heart that you could open, look into, and manipulate- that is enormously attractive.”
“A tool that allows us to study a specific patient’s heart structure before surgery not only allows us to perform better in the operating room, but can lead to less invasive and risky corrective treatment.”
“3D models limit the number of surprises we have interoperatively.”
“As a surgeon, 3D models give me more confidence in our surgical strategy. I will no longer perform surgery without it.”
“3D printing will give us the capability to development treatments heretofore unavailable.”
“3D printing is one of the latest in cardiac imaging techniques that is going to have a huge impact on how we visualize these defects in the future.”
“3D models improve surgery, improve outcomes and result in lower treatment costs. I am certain that once its use becomes widespread, it is going to have a profound effect on the treatment of kids with critical congenital heart defects, and beyond.”
“The ability to 3D print models of patients’ hearts changes everything. There is something about literally holding the heart in your hand, being able to work on it outside the patient before you go into that procedure that is really a quantum leap forward.”
“Every baby is special and every heart is a single heart and is unique. A 3D model of a patient’s heart allows us to see things that are unexpected that can change the life of the patient.”
“If the surgeon is well-prepared for surgery, then it’s a better surgery. If it’s a shorter surgery, it is also a better surgery.”
“Surgeons deal in 3D in the operating room. It makes perfect sense that practicing on 3D models makes surgery safer, as the things we are used to are much more safe to accomplish.”
“The models not only benefit surgeons but also the other doctors in contact with the patient because without this, it is difficult to imagine a particular heart just by relying on 2D images.”
“Having something in your hands, and being able to turn it any way you want, and to be able to cut it, open it up and see the inside, is something that can’t be replicated on a computer.”
“I believe this project is very important and needed. A lot of times it is very difficult for us to image the heart and its structure in 3D because we never have the heart in our hands- the practicality of this is very important.”
“With 3D printing, surgeons can make better decisions before they go into the operating room. The more prepared they are, the better decisions they make, and the fewer surprises they encounter.”
“Every surgeon that we have given these models to has said that they have altered what they’ve done during surgery.”
“With 3D printing, decisionmaking is more informed, and doctors have more confidence in going forward in gray territory.”
“The possibility of training on a model before doing the procedure will help to have fewer complications.”
“Each heart is unique because there are always differences even within the same cardiomyopathy and they can behave in different ways. When you have this in your hands, you can figure out each patient’s cardiomyopathy much better, and thus treat them better.”