Three - dimensional printing has helped cut surgery time and costs at Rady Children 's Hospital in San Diego . A team from the hospital and the University of California , San Diego used a 3D printer to create surgical training models for treatment of the most common hip problem occurring in children , slipped capital femoral epiphysis . Practice on the project cost about $ 2,700 per patient and reduced surgery costs by nearly 50 % , according to a study published in the Journal of Children 's Orthopaedics .
Three-dimensional printing has helped cut surgery time and costs at Rady Children's Hospital in San Diego. A team from the hospital and the University of California, San Diego used a 3D printer to create surgical training models for treatment of the most common hip problem occurring in children, slipped capital femoral epiphysis. Practice on the models saved about $2,700 per operation and reduced surgery time by nearly 25%, according to a study published in the Journal of Children's Orthopaedics.