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Digitalisation is one of the key challenges in current surgery and will impact the future of surgical care as well as upcoming generations of surgeons. 3D printing is a technology that has recently been transferred from industrial prototyping into cardiovascular medicine. The digital model of the anatomical structure which needs to be engineered represents the inherent link of 3D printing to digital medicine. 3D printing technology is able to provide the surgeon with patient-specific models of anatomy and disease for surgical planning and patient informed consent as well as training templates for students and residents, surgical templates and even ready-to-use surgical implants. In our service, we have established a full-inhouse workflow for 3D printing and we currently use this technology for the generation of patient-specific models, training templates and for patient education, as will be presented in this article. Future advances in software solutions, printing polymers and easy-to-handle printers will further propagate and expand the applicability of this technology in cardiovascular medicine., Competing Interests: BD erhielt Unterstützung in Form von Vortragshonoraren und Sachspenden von Materialise (Gilching, Deutschland) und Stratasys (Stratasys GmbH, Rheinmünster, Deutschland)., (Thieme. All rights reserved.)

Competing Interests: Disclosure The authors report no conflicts of interest in this work.

Sonography has a high sensitivity in diagnosing circumscript lesions in the liver when modern machines are used by a skilled examiner. The exact analysis of the sonographic imaging characteristics allows definite diagnosis in the majority of cases. The high prevalence of benign liver tumors has to be considered. It is substantiated by an evaluation of 731 own patients. The characteristics of the most important circumscribed liver lesions are presented and suggestions for the diagnostic work-up are provided.