Barriers and facilitators to the implementation of additive manufacturing in cardiology : A qualitative study

• Background: Additive manufacturing (AM) is a fast-developing technology with possible applications in car-diology. Existing research has identified two general factors that can influence implementing AM in cardiol-ogy: economics and technology.Objective: In this study we aimed to identify barriers and facilitators to implementing AM in cardiology.Methods: We conducted a multiple case study of two Swedish cardiac surgery departments representingimplementers and non-implementers of AM. We interviewed key stakeholders (n=8) who had been or wereinvolved in implementing AM in cardiology or AM in general at the hospitals: cardiologists, physicians work-ing with AM but not specialized in cardiology such as radiologists, company representatives, and individualsinvolved in the 3D-printing facilities. A combination of an inductive and deductive approach was used to ana-lyze the interviews.Results: Several barriers and facilitators influenced implementing AM in cardiology. Most barriers (n=4) wererelated to innovation factors, whereas most facilitators (n=4) were related to healthcare professionals. No barriers and facilitators were related to patients.Conclusion: Our findings show that AM in cardiology is in its very early phases in both hospitals and mostlythe work of a few individuals. In the two hospitals studied, there were some unique differences in terms ofbarriers that could explain the low level of implementation. These barriers could be important to addresswhen supporting implementation of AM at hospitals where AM use is still low.

Ämnesord

TEKNIK OCH TEKNOLOGIER  -- Medicinteknik (hsv//swe)

ENGINEERING AND TECHNOLOGY  -- Medical Engineering (hsv//eng)

MEDICIN OCH HÄLSOVETENSKAP  -- Klinisk medicin -- Kardiologi (hsv//swe)

MEDICAL AND HEALTH SCIENCES  -- Clinical Medicine -- Cardiac and Cardiovascular Systems (hsv//eng)

Nyckelord

additive manufacturing; 3D printing; barriers; facilitators; cardiology; implementation

Engineering Science with specialization in Biomedical Engineering

Teknisk fysik med inriktning mot medicinsk teknik

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