How Rady Children's 3D Lab Is Changing Pediatric Surgery

When a child needs a heart transplant, the available donor hearts usually come from adults. Those hearts are bigger. Sometimes much bigger. Fitting an adult heart into a child's chest is not guaranteed. Surgeons at Rady Children's Hospital in San Diego have found a way to stack the odds in their favor: they print the heart first.

The Webster Foundation 3D Innovation Lab turns CT and MRI scans into physical 3D models and interactive virtual simulations. Surgeons can rehearse the procedure, test how the donor heart sits inside the patient's chest, and map out their incisions before anyone touches a scalpel.

From scan to surgery in hours

Justin Ryan founded the lab in 2018. It is the first facility of its kind in Southern California, and it has now supported more than 3,200 cases. The team prints nearly 800 patient models a year, ranging from hearts and bones to throats and nasal passages.

"We can make 3D models from either CT or MRI," Ryan said. "Most of ours are from CT as there is better spatial resolution from that modality."

The process starts with a radiological scan. Engineers convert that data into a computational model that shows every anatomical angle. Doctors can rotate the heart, slice through it virtually, and simulate the surgery in virtual reality. If the plan looks right, they send the file to one of the lab's five 3D printers. The physical model comes out ready for the operating room.

Shorter operations, better outcomes

The payoff is speed. "We have shorter surgeries because surgeons are better informed," Ryan said. "A better targeted procedure means patients are under anesthesia for less time."

For complex cases, that difference matters. Pediatric heart transplants carry enough risk without the added uncertainty of whether an adult organ will fit. The models remove that guesswork. Surgeons can see exactly where to cut, how deep to go, and how the new heart will sit inside the ribcage.

The lab also uses the models for education. Families can hold a replica of their child's heart and see what the surgery will do. That transparency helps when language barriers or medical anxiety stand in the way of understanding.

The barrier no one talks about

Despite the clear benefits, 3D surgical modeling remains rare. The reason is money. Insurance companies do not pay for it. Hospitals have to find grants and donors to keep these labs running.

Rady's lab operates on a mix of philanthropic support and research funding. The specialized printer that can produce FDA-approved sterilized models costs roughly $100,000. The other four machines run between $2,000 and $4,000 each. That is a small price compared to the cost of a complicated surgery gone wrong, but it is not a trivial investment for a children's hospital.

Ryan believes the lab is one of the most prolific centers of 3D-printed medical models in the United States. His team has printed throat simulators for medical school conferences, custom trays for medications, and spinal models for surgical rehearsal. Each case builds the case for making this technology standard.

The work is not about prosthetics or implants. It is about information. A good model does not replace the surgeon's skill. It gives the surgeon better knowledge before the first cut.