3D printing as an innovative tool in personalized management of complex airway diseases: a literature review
Abstract
Background and objective: Personalized medicine tailors interventions to a patient's unique anatomy and physiology. Three-dimensional printing (3DP) enables this precision for complex airway disease, including tracheal stenosis, tracheobronchomalacia, aerodigestive fistulas, and segmental defects, where conventional silicone or metallic stents and surgical reconstruction often fail to provide durable, anatomically congruent solutions. Tissue engineering and 3DP promise patient-specific devices and regenerative scaffolds that maintain patency, resist collapse, and minimize immunogenicity. This review synthesizes clinical and preclinical progress, highlighting materials, design strategies, biologic integration, and translational barriers.
Methods: A comprehensive literature search was conducted in PubMed (January 1, 2015-June 1, 2025). Inclusion criteria encompassed studies utilizing 3DP to fabricate implantable devices for tracheobronchial reconstruction, with in vivo implantation. Pediatric (<18 years), egg/mouse/rat preclinical studies, review articles, and abstracts were excluded. Data extracted included publication details, participant characteristics, device materials and printing methods, and outcomes.
Key content and findings: From 808 records, 16 clinical and 56 preclinical studies were analyzed. Clinically, indirect 3DP with silicone or metallic alloys predominated, creating Y-stents or straight stents for post-lung transplant (LTx) stenosis, tracheobronchomalacia,…
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