NSU’s Health Professions Division Library has secured a 3-D printer after several HPD programs expressed interest in the technology for research.
HPD librarians are working with faculty members from various colleges to develop research projects and other educational opportunities in areas such as prosthetics, audiology and dental medicine, for students to use the 3-D printer.
HPD’s Emerging Technologies Librarian John Reynolds said HPD’s upcoming projects will include the creation of brain stem models for neuroanatomical students, oversized tooth preparations for a dental education effectiveness study, a research project by occupational therapy students on the use of low-cost prosthetics and customizable implanted drug delivery devices.
3-D printing, the process of making three-dimensional solid objects from a digital file, is quickly becoming widespread in a variety of fields, especially healthcare. HPD students need exposure and access to the new technology so they’ll be ready to use it after they graduate, said Reynolds.
“Today’s NSU HPD students will be seeing and using 3-D printers in hospitals, dental offices, occupational therapy practices, optometry centers and elsewhere after they graduate,” Reynolds said. “3-D printing technology is currently being used to plan surgeries and create custom implants, medical devices and human body parts.”
Jared Gibby, second year graduate student in the College of Dental Medicine, said the 3-D printer allows students to have access to cutting edge technology, providing them with opportunities to turn medical imaging into three-dimensional models.
“Having access to this type of technology encourages students to develop creative learning and enhances students’ educational experience while at NSU,” he said.
The 3-D printer will assist Gibby and NSU’s postdoctoral residents in the oral and maxillofacial surgery program in creating models for surgeons that serve as a reference during facial reconstruction surgery at the Broward Health Medical Center Trauma Center.
This project will also help surgeons plan corrective surgery for a patient with an aggressive jaw tumor and educate patients about their condition to help them make better decisions about their treatment, said Reynolds.
Gibby said the project allows surgeons to have access to medical grade models at a fraction of the cost of commercial models — $10 compared to $5,000 per model.
“This allows doctors to provide a higher level of care to patients, especially patients from low-income families,” he said.
Reynolds said the occupational therapy master’s students will be working on a project called “Enable the Future.”
“The project will match up children who need prostheses with people who can make and fit them,” he said. “The OT students will be using prostheses made on the library’s printer next fall.”
The HPD library has already utilized the 3-D printer by creating prototype prosthetic hands for children with birth defects or who have undergone amputation, human skull models created from CT scans for use in maxillofacial reconstruction surgery and patient treatment planning and human inner ear models for future classroom use in audiology.
Reynolds said having a 3-D printer in a central, visible location, like the library, as opposed to a lab, lets more students and faculty see and learn about the technology, even if they do not use it directly.
Interested students or faculty can contact Reynolds at jreynolds@nova.edu.
Photo Credit: Courtesy of J. Reynolds
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