Three-dimensionally Printed Navigational Template for Localizing Small Pulmonary Nodules

Pulmonary wedge resection is one of the most common types of operations performed by thoracic surgeons, especially given that more and more patients with ground glass nodules are being detected recently. One of the most significant current discussion concerning wedge resection is nodule localization. At present, a commonly used localization method is the CT-guided percutaneous lung puncture methylene blue staining marker localization, but this method has two main disadvantages: 1. the methylene blue dye is easy to spread, affecting the intraoperative judgment of nodule position by surgeon; 2. patients often suffer additional CT radiation. In recent years, the three-dimensional (3D) printing technique has been gradually applied to clinical therapy. However, 3D-printed template-guided (3D-G) localization required pre-evaluation by CT scanning. If deviation of more than 2 cm was found on the CT scan, the 3D-G method was regarded as a failure and traditional CT-G hookwire localization was used. To further clarify the confounding factors, the investigators developed their own 3D printing localization procedure. In contrast to traditional CT-G percutaneous puncture localization, the 3D printing localization procedure was performed in the operating room without CT scan evaluation.