On the cutting edge: Milwaukee VA 3D printing lab excels in innovation

The 3D printing lab, housed in Building 43 on the Milwaukee VA campus, is overseen by Dr. Katie Schultz, a physical therapist whose role changed when the pandemic hit in 2020. 

While the Milwaukee VA was already using 3D printing to make dental products and adaptive equipment, Schultz oversaw the switch to making protective face shields — a move that was so successful that it garnered the attention of regional VISN 12 VA leadership, who asked Schultz to investigate a more wide-ranging 3D printing program.

Now, while continuing to be the 3D printing site for VISN 12, the Milwaukee lab is also one of only six hub sites in the nation under the umbrella of the Office of Advanced Manufacturing, meaning it is serving VA medical centers across the country.

“Had it not been for that response during COVID, I don’t think we’d be here today,” Schultz said.

Newest priority: medical models

While the lab continues to excel in creating dental products and assistive technology for those with disabilities, it is now at the forefront of making medical models. These are precise replicas of organs, bones and body parts that help patients and doctors alike.

“This has been our biggest feat for 2024,” Schultz said.

For example, the lab can create a color-coded model that shows a cyst or tumor with its precise location, size, etc., as well as all of the blood vessels and neighboring organs. If surgery is required, the model helps the surgeon plan the procedure. The model also helps the patient understand what is happening in his/her body and how the procedure will be accomplished.

Schultz said these models lead to better education, reduced surgical complications, reduced use of anesthesia and overall better outcomes.

“There’s a whole host of positives that come out of medical models,” she said, noting that feedback from surgeons and other health care providers has been “all positive.”

“We’re helping answer consults from all over the country,” Schultz said. “The fact that we can provide models to help improve patient education, patient consent and surgical planning is really awesome.”

Meet the team

To meet the demand, Schultz has two experts on her team: Tina Hobach, who has an extensive background in imaging, and Alan Shepardson, a biomedical engineer.

Shepardson keeps the machines humming, Schultz said, and brings much-needed computer-aided design skills to the team. Hobach, with 25 years’ experience as an imaging technologist, plays a key role in creating the medical models as she can help interpret the CT scans that form the basis of the models.

“Being on the cutting edge with this stuff is just an awesome opportunity,” said Hobach, who joined the team in November. She said she was attracted to the job as a way to take her career to the next level. “I like the hands-on opportunities and challenges.”

Shepardson, who’s been on the team about a year, said he was enticed by the innovative things being accomplished.

“I’m very grateful for the opportunity to do something like this,” he said, saying the work being done is comparable to leading biomedical institutions across the country.

On the cutting edge

The lab also plays a key role in innovation projects. It helped develop a clip that a Milwaukee VA nurse hopes to patent, and it produces naloxone trainers developed in Milwaukee that are being shipped across the country.

“We’ve had several amazing projects come through the innovation program,” Schultz said.

It also continues to come up with innovative and cost-effective adaptive technology, such as a lever to help a Veteran with limited arm mobility to continue scuba diving as well as dental devices, prosthetics, simulation products and wheelchair parts.

“These projects that require some creativity are really fun,” Schultz said. 

Schultz has tracked the cost savings of the lab. A project that another VA outsourced ended up costing $3,200 and took 32 days. Milwaukee’s 3D printing lab was able to do it in seven days at a cost of $154.

“And the requesting clinician, when she looked at both models — she didn’t know which model came from us — chose our model,” she said.

With all that’s going on in the lab, Schultz said the focus for this year is the medical models. While they’ve been well-received, Schultz said getting the word out has been a challenge.

“This is still very much in its infancy,” she said, noting that many frontline workers and surgeons “don’t know that we exist. But I think once more people continue to learn about it, business will take off.”

To learn more about how 3D printing is used in medicine, listen to the “Tomorrow’s Cure” podcast: Tomorrow's Cure on Apple Podcasts