Existing uses of 3D printing in plastic surgery practice span the spectrum from templates for facial transplantation surgery through to the formation of bespoke craniofacial implants to optimize post-operative esthetics. There is great potential in the use of 3D printing to become an essential office-based tool in plastic surgery to assist in preoperative planning, developing intraoperative guidance tools, teaching patients and surgical trainees, and producing patient-specific prosthetics in everyday surgical practice.

Authors: Michael P. Chae^1,2, Warren M. Rozen^1,2, Paul G. McMenamin³, Michael W. Findlay^1,4*, Robert T. Spychal¹ and David J. Hunter-Smith^1,2

• ¹3D PRINT Laboratory, Department of Surgery, Peninsula Health, Frankston, VIC, Australia
• ²Monash University Plastic and Reconstructive Surgery Group (Peninsula Clinical School), Peninsula Health, Frankston, VIC, Australia
• ³Department of Anatomy and Developmental Biology, Centre for Human Anatomy Education, School of Biomedical Sciences, Faculty of Medicine, Nursing and Health Sciences, Monash University, Clayton, VIC, Australia
• ⁴Department of Surgery, Stanford University, Stanford, CA, USA