Patient decision making for traditional vs. 3D printing-based meniscus transplantation

Every year about 1.5 million people have surgery to treat meniscal tears across the US and Europe. Traditionally, meniscus transplantation is the primary treatment in the long term. 3D printing is a substitute to the traditional transplantation method. With its previous contribution to tooth crowns, hearing AIDS and other life science industries, 3D printing has shown to be successful. In this article, we would like to investigate the feasibility of adopting 3D printing on meniscus in terms of supply chain cost and patient cost. We use data collected from online resources, literature citations and making assumptions where necessary. The analysis is carried in two directions: first, cost models for traditional transplantation and 3D printing-based transplantation in patients' perspective are developed. Second, a hypothesized pathway model is created to analyze posttransplantation cost and risk for patients. Simulation based on the pathway model will be done to estimate parameters of the model. Meanwhile, we use a Markov model to study the potential post-transplantation risks which may induce additional cost to patients. Our results will help hospitals in making decisions on the introduction of 3D printing systems.

Patient decision making for traditional vs. 3D printing-based meniscus transplantation Conference Paper