A complex open heart surgery is an undertaking full of inherent risks, during which many things hang in the balance. But, what if some of that unforeseen risk could be mitigated? What if the surgeon could hold your heart in their hands, study every detail, visualize every structure, even practice their operation on your heart before they ever made an actual cut, or even entered the operating room? What if?

Recent state-of-the-art developments in 3D imaging and 3D printing have been making this a reality in many hospitals, and have been changing the world of pediatric medicine - especially for children with congenital heart disease.

From realistic, patient-specific heart models used in surgery planning and patient education, to medical devices specific to the smallest babies - this incredibly flexible and affordable technology has the potential to innovate care for many of the smallest patients and their families. At the same time, like many emerging technologies, the laws and regulations that govern 3D printing in the medical space have been outpaced by the speed of innovation. Dr. Justin Ryan of the Helen & Will Webster Foundation 3D Innovation Lab at Rady Children's Hospital, in San Diego, CA says that sometimes this phenomenon makes working in this field feel a little bit like the "Wild West." However, he and others are actively helping to bring guidelines up to speed in order to make this technology as safe as it can be, while also leveraging that same flexibility in order to maximize his creativity in finding solutions for the hospital's patients. When it comes to that creativity, Dr. Ryan also draws upon his background as a classically trained artist, and surprisingly, he sees many similarities between his work as a biomedical engineer and the artistic process. Join me as we talk with the team from the 3D Innovation Print Lab, and explore this exciting and rapidly growing technology and its increasingly significant impact on the world of medicine.

EPISODE GUESTS

Dr. Justin Ryan – Dr. Ryan is a research scientist and Director of the Helen & Will Webster Foundation 3D Innovations Lab at Rady Children's Hospital in San Diego, CA. With a background both in art and biomedical engineering, Dr. Ryan brings a unique skill set to his work with the 3D Innovations Lab.

Dr. Sanjeet Hegde - Dr. Hegde is a pediatric cardiologist, research scientist, and the Director of Research at the Heart Institute at Rady Children's Hospital in San Diego, CA. He was a founding member of the 3D Innovations Lab, and helped pioneer Rady Children's Hospital's first 3D printing program.

Kathryn Matthews - Kathryn is a parent of a child with complex congenital heart disease (CHD), and she is an active CHD advocate through her work and leadership with a family advisory council at her local children's hospital. Her advocacy, and courage to ask her medical team for what she thought her child needed, were a major catalyst in the integration of 3D printing into the medical care at Rady Children's Hospital.

SUPPORT

Please consider supporting the important and innovative work of the Helen & Will Webster Foundation 3D Innovations Lab - you can find more information about how to do that HERE.

*Episode Note - since initially producing this episode, the roles/titles of both Dr. Ryan and Dr. Hegde have changed. As a result, there is some discrepancy between their guest bios and how they are introduced in the episode. The titles included on this page are the most current.

Also, the audio clip at 1:46 is Frank Muller performing the opening lines from "A Tale of Two Cities" by Charles Dickens.