Dr. Beth Ripley would like you to know that the U.S. Department of Veterans Affairs is way more innovative than you probably think. But she’s biased — both as a pioneer in 3D printing and a radiologist at the VA’s Puget Sound Health Care System in the Seattle region.
Ripley is a driving force behind the VA’s rollout of 3D modeling software from GE Healthcare, under a new partnership announced this week. The technology takes arcane radiological scans and translates them into printable files to become plastic organs, bones and tumors that physicians can use in planning patient care and treatment.
For years, Ripley and others in the medical field have been using 3D printing, but the new software should save time and make the technology more accessible.
“One of the most time-critical steps is translating medical imaging data into the 3D printing file,” she said. “I’ve spent 10 hours or more painstakingly going through data sets and translating them over.” Using the 3D modeling software, that process should be reduced to minutes.
