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Three-dimensional printing in medicine

Jasamine Coles-Black, Ian Chao and Jason Chuen
Med J Aust 2017; 207 (3): . || doi: 10.5694/mja16.01073
Published online: 7 August 2017

Three-dimensional printing could revolutionise the way we practise medicine

Three-dimensional (3D) printing allows digital 3D models to be converted into physical ones with unprecedented accessibility. It has been hailed as a “disruptive technology” — a term used to describe advances that could change the status quo. The technology involves building 3D structures by depositing material layer upon layer to form a 3D object. This process is achieved via several ways, most commonly via fused deposition modelling (FDM), selective laser sintering and stereolithography.


  • 1 Austin Health, Melbourne, VIC
  • 2 Eastern Health, Melbourne, VIC


Correspondence: ian.chao@austin.org.au

Acknowledgements: 

We thank the 3D Medical Printing Laboratory at Austin Health, Victoria, for use of their images. We also thank the Austin Medical Research Foundation and the Harold and Cora Brennen Benevolent Trust for funding this work.

Competing interests:

No relevant disclosures.

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