3D printing is driving innovative medical solutions
Drs. Bon Ku and Rob Pugliese are teaching medical students to design medical devices, research spaces, and healthcare services to refresh the traditional medical school education model, turning them into innovative healthcare problem-solvers and doctors.
Dr. Bon Ku and Dr. Rob Pugliese serve as professors and emergency room doctors at Thomas Jefferson University and Hospital, respectively. They have witnessed firsthand the gap in skills and knowledge among current medical school graduates and recognize the challenges they will immediately face in the busy, real-world hospital environment. Ku and Pugliese were also inspired by the Maker movement (a movement initially spearheaded by Jose Gomez-Marquez and his team). These two individuals pondered how to make a difference in health professional training by enhancing creativity, adaptability, and the dedication of doctors.
A doctor and a designer
They established a design lab and implemented the JeffDESIGN program – JeffDESIGN is the first design curriculum in a medical school. Dr. Ku states: “The program's goal is to teach future doctors to design medical devices, spaces, and services within the healthcare field. The program actually does more than that; it teaches these aspiring doctors how to be problem-solvers. The JeffDESIGN program includes hands-on courses taught collaboratively by doctors, designers, architects, and engineers.
Kathryn Linder, a Jefferson medical student, is a student in the "Design for Disability" course led by Pugliese. Linder understands that there's more to it than just theory; she and her classmates are creating a prosthetic for a 16-year-old lyrical master.
Linder's team is working on a device that will allow a young quadriplegic to write again by hand. Linder says, "When we consider solutions, it's no longer just theoretical. It's about whether its function and appearance are suitable for Lariq?" (The full story can be found in this video)
Dr. Ku stated: "These are everyday problems, but currently, medical schools don't have doctors equipped to assist with them." These rapid cycles of discovery, prototyping, and testing will aid future generations of doctors and provide them with the toolkit to solve these problems.
Ku sees a very real problem in design: doctor burnout. When everyday problems seem intractable, it's hard to hold onto any hope. But Ku believes that the challenges faced in design are a catalyst for medical practitioners. He explains, "Inherent in design is an optimistic mindset: you can design a better way. It also has the potential to improve healthcare. This optimism can foster empathy; future doctors may listen to patients and design with them.
There is a long history of practicing physicians acting as inventors and making significant contributions to advancements in medical technology. However, in recent decades, medicine has increasingly outsourced this activity to the medical technology industry. Dr. Ku and Pugliese view themselves as inventors, and JeffDESIGN enables students to propose their own solutions to medical challenges.
3D printers in medical school
This "design lab within a medical center" is unique. It is highly praised because it encourages innovation and design thinking among medical students. And the medical devices invented by students are gradually gaining attention. The lab is located in the vault of the Second Federal Reserve Bank in Philadelphia. It is a functional prototyping/maker space that supports collaboration between medical professionals and technology.
Like any design studio, it's filled with paper, pens, sticky notes, glue, and popsicle sticks. But this lab has a crucial secret weapon: an Ultimaker desktop 3D printer.
The JeffDESIGN team meticulously researched desktop 3D printing options and found that Ultimaker offered precision and reliability, adding practical tools. The Ultimaker's clean white appearance encourages professionals to roll up their sleeves and operate the tools. As Dr. Ku says: "People are still very interested in 3D printing in healthcare, and while engineers might be bored – it’s just another thing – we have shown our 3D printers to medical students and doctors, and suddenly they express to us, 'For us, the advent of 3D printers is like a flash of inspiration; this is not an unattainable technology anymore! It can truly be placed on your desk, and it's easy to use.'"
The JeffDESIGN program spends time in the lab teaching medical students, doctors, and nurses, and they don't need to spend an entire semester on CAD 3D drawing; they just need to print a practical object.
The products designed and manufactured by these students are not only useful but also unique, completely different from mass-produced medical devices. These designs are more accurately tailored to the needs of patients, rather than focusing on how to stand out among a wide array of medical equipment. Solutions are drawn from practical patient training and experience, and this can lead to better quality healthcare in the future.
【3D Printing News】3D printing is driving innovative medical solutions