We are in the midst of a technological revolution in customized patient care. Advances in imaging techniques with digital 3D and 4D rendering and advances of 3D printing have allowed healthcare professionals the ability to view and document hard and soft tissues in such a manner that meaningful, accurate measurements can be used for fabrication of medical models for presurgical planning/patient education, fabrication of surgical templates, and medical/dental devices for implantation or quality of life. In addition, 3D print technologies in printing biological tissues will provide a future for many patients with the eventual printing of human organs.

The media continues to highlight the impact of 3D printing on patient care on local and national newscasts, and many have taken a social media approach to publicize the impact on this new, innovative way to deliver medical data. However, until recently, a single healthcare organization leader has not emerged as a home to release technologies, to disseminate the peer review literature, to manage the roles and future responsibilities of 3D printing in education, and to lead discussions with regulatory bodies geared for reimbursement. This, in turn, has left much of the responsibilities of current development and direction to the manufacturers, in response to individual medical and dental requests.

At the forefront of this entire process is medical imaging and dental imaging, as radiology and applied imaging science professionals largely manage the studies that identify patient-specific anatomical areas of interest for design and fabrication of customized models, surgical guides, and medical devices that are 3D printed. Moreover, much of 3D printing is from medical images, and several of the more complex steps, where errors can be introduced, are in image post-processing. This has historically been performed in radiology departments, using customized software packages and expertise inclusive in the training to become a radiologist. For this reason, radiologists feel that much is “at stake” with medical 3D printing, with enormous opportunities in the field that are tempered with the fear that “if we don’t do it, someone else will….” Radiology has, in turn, stepped up to the plate. The Radiological Society of North America (RSNA) recently created its first ever “Special Interest Group,” focused on 3D printing. In addition, the Journal of 3D Printing in Medicine was recently launched and is enjoying increasing success as a resource for the peer-reviewed literature.

This book, edited by a senior dentist/prosthodontist with over 20 years of experience in 3D printing and an academic radiologist with 7 years’ experience, is intended to introduce the field with straightforward language that will be consumable for a large audience. This book is not a comprehensive survey of all 3D printing in medicine. Moreover, bioprinting is not covered in these pages. However, the book explains 3D printing fundamentals and will serve as a highly useful reference guide to keep handy in the interpretation of the increasing body of knowledge in the literature. Dedicated chapters that focus on hardware and software applications should prove indispensable for those who are eager to enter the field. The book also has important chapters in starting a laboratory within a medical facility and the key factors in quality and safety that are an essential part of a 3D printing organization. We include authorship from close allies at the FDA who, like us, share a great interest in stewarding 3D printing from its current niche applications to more widespread use in the medical community. The book extends to include chapters on some of those niche applications. At this point in the exponential growth of 3D printing, assembling a chapter on each organ system is challenging, since the field changes dramatically between the time of writing and the date of publication. However, we have included several representative chapters so that the readership can be enriched with many examples of how 3D printing is positively influencing medicine.