Yet, imaging modalities remain limited due to the lack of dynamic interaction, tactile feedback and layered structural information even when multiple views and color overlays are available. Advances in medical imaging have played a pivotal role in cardiovascular care to date, providing indispensable support in clinical settings. The next generation of 3D printing techniques allow patient-specific models that are increasingly realistic, replicating properties, anatomy and function.Ĭlinical diagnosis has increasingly shifted from being invasive towards being informative. We then provide an in-depth exploration of future technologies and innovations around these methods, capturing opportunities and emerging directions across increasingly realistic representations, bioprinting and tissue engineering, and complementary virtual and mixed reality solutions. We provide comparisons of available imaging modalities and overview of segmentation and post-processing techniques to process images for printing, detailed exploration of latest 3D printing methods and materials, and a comprehensive, up-to-date review of milestone applications and their impact within the cardiovascular domain across research, clinical use and education.

This review discusses the latest developments and future directions of generating medical replicas (‘phantoms’) for use in the cardiovascular field, detailing the end-to-end process from medical imaging to capture structures of interest, to production and use of 3D printed models. It has expanded our understanding of the cardiovascular system resulting in better devices, tools and consequently improved patient outcomes.

This rapidly developing technology has had a significant impact on cardiovascular research, its clinical translation and education. 3D printing as a means of fabrication has seen increasing applications in medicine in the last decade, becoming invaluable for cardiovascular applications.

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