#Working3D: Six Questions for Manager of 3D at Children’s Hospital

3D printing has had a profound impact on the medical community, and one area where the technology is really showing its usefulness is in pediatrics. Children have more variable anatomy than adults because their bodies are still developing, so when the need for unique surgical operations arises, 3D visualization can provide valuable insights. 3D printing can create surgical models and guides for surgeons and families to better understand a patient’s anatomy. For instance, if a tumor is in an unusual or difficult-to-access location, the 3D lab could print a model of the patient’s tumor, as well as the surrounding organs, to help develop their surgical approach. Patients and their families, as well as physicians, benefit from seeing this physical representation.

Children’s Nebraska, located in Omaha, is one of a handful of pediatric hospitals in the country that has its own 3D printing lab. To learn more about how the lab leverages the technology, as well as what it is like to work with it, we spoke to Gabe Linke, the Manager of 3D at Children’s. Linke helped build the hospital’s 3D printing operation from the start—and we wanted to learn how.

The gallery in the 3D printing lab (Photo Credit: 3Dnatives)

3DN: Could you introduce yourself?