In their research, the team from CITPH was able to print a towel clamp, sponge stick, scalpel handle, straight and curved hemostats, several types of forceps and several clamps. The particular instrument set was printed because of its versatility in many procedures, according to the report.
Printed instruments met traditional performance standards, and five instrument types were tested by 13 surgeons, who were asked to complete a set of tasks with both traditional and ABS-printed instruments. The instruments were satisfactory, according to the report.
While the 90 minute printing time and lack of research surrounding sterilization for the instruments currently renders them unusable for emergent situations, the capability may prove useful in the future for situations in which surgery is urgent but travel to surgical care is not a feasible possibility.
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