First Coast News
by Juliette Dryer

Surgeons and radiologists at the Mayo Clinic in Jacksonville are using 3D printing technology to plan out surgeries before ever entering the operating room. Dr. Si Pham, chair of cardiothoracic surgery at Mayo Clinic, recently used a 3D-printed model to prepare for a complicated heart surgery, during which he had to remove a tumor. Pham equated the printed model to a road map, guiding him to the best approach to surgery. “If you drive to a different city, if you have a road map you will know exactly where to go without getting lost,” Pham said. Pham said the 3D models are used for heart tumors, aneurysms of the aorta and heart defects.

Reach: First Coast News refers to three television stations in Jacksonville, Florida. WJXX, the ABC affiliate; WTLV, the NBC affiliate; and WCWJ, the CW affiliate.

Context:  Si Pham, M.D. is chair of  Cardiovascular Surgery. Heart (cardiac) and chest (thoracic) surgeons at Mayo Clinic diagnose and surgically treat conditions of the heart, lungs and chest. They perform more than 4,000 cardiac surgeries each year at the clinic's campuses in Arizona, Florida and Minnesota. Robert Pooley, Ph.D. is a Mayo Clinic radiologist and director of Mayo's 3D printing lab.

Contact:  Natalie Halpern

Tags: 3D printing, Dr. Robert Pooley, Dr. Si Pham, First Coast News, Radiology, Uncategorized