SCOTT LILLY: I'm Dr. Scott Lilly. I'm an interventional cardiologist at Ohio State University, and we use computer modeling and simulation and 3D printing to inform the way we care for patients with aortic valve disease.
And we use it specifically in those cases where we're concerned that the anatomy around the valve may result in a complication, such as coronary obstruction, or that the degree of calcium around the valve might result in a significant leak around the valve or a paravalvular leak.
And so, we will 3D print the ventricle, the aorta, the aortic valve itself, the coronary arteries, and we may simulate different valve types in that specific patient in order to predict the best possible outcome. And this technology has allowed us to provide care to a broader spectrum of patients than we would have otherwise.
It's not the standard of care, and I think Ohio State is one of the few places that employs these kind of technologies routinely. The modeling and simulation, it has given us the confidence to treat patients that have been turned down elsewhere.
When you tell them that you can provide them a therapy, they're incredibly gracious. And it's a satisfying feeling as a physician. It's a satisfying feeling for our scientists that help us and it elevates the team.
It's important for our workflow. We've incorporated it into weekly meetings. And I believe it's allowed us to do more for more people. I think medicine in its best iteration is collaboration between scientists and physicians.
And we often take for granted what the scientists know. They take for granted what we know. And when we get into those cracks and crevices, we realize that there's a whole other world there, and a lot of different ways we can help patients and help them save them.
