Korean researchers are taking the lead in developing international standards for medical 3D printing and 3D scanning, which are essential for creating customized medical devices for each patient. If this standard is developed, it is expected to be of great help in promoting public health, revitalizing the related medical equipment industry, but also spreading digital twins and metaverse.

The Electronics and Telecommunications Research Institute (ETRI) announced that three new international standard development tasks for 『Medical Image Based Medical 3D Printing Modeling』were approved and a working group for 3D scanning standard development was also established. Two related international standards, which began development in 2019, are about to be finalized.

This has further strengthened Korea's leadership in international standards for medical 3D printing and 3D scanning. Also, it is evaluated to have laid the foundation for a leap forward as a global digital powerhouse by laying the foundation for expansion into construction, manufacturing, national defense, aviation, culture and art, and reverse engineering.
The three newly adopted standardization items are ▲Standard evaluation process for precision/accuracy evaluation in the manufacturing process of medical 3D printing implants based on standard CT images ▲Precision/accuracy error evaluation method in the human tissue segmentation stage and 3D modeling stage ▲ The standard operating procedure for creating a data set.

Medical 3D printing is a technology that uses the patient's medical image information to make customized surgical devices, implantable medical devices, and pre-simulation tools. It is used to make implants and prostheses that fit the patient's facial skeleton.

Until now, to prepare medical equipment suitable for the patient's condition, printing models had to be made by hand. This is because it is not easy to clearly distinguish the tissue parts in the image. It took a long time to produce, so there were many restrictions in an urgent situation, and it was difficult to use data from other medical staff because there was no standard plan.

When this standard is completed, the research team expects to be able to evaluate the precision/accuracy with standardized procedures and methods for medical 3D printing modeling software, which will be of great help in domestic and overseas medical 3D printing software licensing.

The design time can also be reduced from 24 hours to around 3 hours. Comprehensive quality control is also easy. Above all, when it will be commercialized, it is expected to help establish a new medical paradigm, such as predicting treatment effects and prescribing optimal drug through virtual simulation based on personal health data.

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