3D is the future?
Reviewed by Joanna Stephens

This is an interesting take on yet another way to incorporate modern technology into medical practice, and the novel use of a 3D printer to create a custom-made prosthesis for large and irregular nasal septal perforations. These prostheses have the potential to be a longstanding solution to a troublesome problem for patients, with retention time from 7 to 51 months, with long-term or continued use in 90% of the patients in the study. Patients’ symptoms were generally significantly improved with the prosthesis. While we may not all have access to a 3D printer, this is an unusual, new solution to a common and difficult problem that may become available to us all in the future.

Three-dimensional printing of large nasal septal perforations for optimal prosthetic closure.
Onerci Altunay Z, Bly JA, Edwards PK, et al.
AMERICAN JOURNAL OF RHINOLOGY AND ALLERGY
2016;30(4):287-93.