The magic of three-dimensional printing in ophthalmology

The technology of three-dimensional (3D) printing has evolved over the past few years with cumulative improvements in the resolution, accuracy, cost-effectiveness, and speed of this highly customizable manufacturing process. Ophthalmologists have designed multiple 3D printed smartphone based fundus cameras with some of the designs available as open-source for all to download and 3D-print. Now, the technology has been used for anything from eyewear and medical devices to printing of live cells and tissues like an artificial cornea. It also has uses in education and surgical planning. The author had the opportunity to work with a 3D printer and make some of these models. The future is bright for innovations in this field as we are only beginning to understand the capabilities of this technology.