The University of Maryland Medical Center in Baltimore partnered with the U.S. Department of Veteran Affairs to create 3D-printed shoulder models to help with surgical planning, reports Akron Beacon Journal.
Three things to know:
1. Jeffrey Hirsch, MD, section chief of community radiology for UMMC, collaborated with fellow radiologist Kenneth Wang, MD, to generate models for shoulder replacement surgeries.
2. Forming a shoulder model enables surgeons to visualize the anatomy and map where the hardware will go.
3. Over the course of a decade shoulder replacements have a much higher fail rate than knees due to bones being thinner and more fragile by trauma, arthritis and age, according to Dr. Wang.