This is the fourth and final in a series of articles on advances in military health care and technology since the Persian Gulf War, 30 years ago this year. See part 1 here, part 2 here, and part 3 here.
Technology for 3D printing is transforming the Military Health System (MHS).
Advances in prosthetics are helping wounded warriors take on activities like ice hockey, rock climbing, and CrossFit. For combat veterans with severe head injuries, sophisticated 3D printing machines can "print" customized cranial implants to restore damaged skulls to their original shape and density. And using 3D tech to make models for doctors to train on is reducing the time required for surgeries and improving outcomes.
These technologies were essentially unheard of 30 years ago in the wake of the first Gulf War. Yet after some initial advances in the 1990s, the MHS began to rapidly increase the use and application of 3D printing after the start of the wars in Iraq and Afghanistan.
"During these conflicts, we saw our services expand," said Peter Liacouras, director of services at the 3D Medical Applications Center, known as 3D MAC, which is part of the Walter Reed National Military Medical Center in Bethesda, Maryland.
Liacouras was the first engineer brought in to Walter Reed Bethesda for 3D applications. "Our primary goal, in the beginning and for the first five or six years, was the 3D printing and 3D reconstruction from medical imaging," he said.
With "stacks" of CT scans or MRI images, they could use 3D printers to construct life-size physical models for providers to hold in their hands. Patient-specific medical models give surgeons the feeling "like they have been there before," improving outcomes, Liacouras said.