3D Printing allows for the printing of complex geometric shapes.

3D Printing allows for the printing of complex geometric shapes. This makes 3D Printing a great technology to customize an elastic membrane that precisely matches the heart’s epicardium. Each patient’s heart is unique and this is another medical application of mass customization.

“Igor Efimov, PhD, at the School of Engineering & Applied Science at Washington University in St. Louis and an international team of biomedical engineers and materials scientists have created a 3-D elastic membrane made of a soft, flexible, silicon material that is precisely shaped to match the heart’s epicardium, or the outer layer of the wall of the heart. Current technology is two-dimensional and cannot cover the full surface of the epicardium or maintain reliable contact for continual use without sutures or adhesives.”
https://news.wustl.edu/news/Pages/26554.aspx