A review of the ethical considerations for the use of 3D printed materials in medical and allied health education and a proposed collective path forward

Abstract

Abstract3D scanning and printing technologies are quickly evolving and offer great potential for use in gross anatomical education. The use of human body donors to create digital scans and 3D printed models raises ethical concerns about donor informed consent, potential commodification, and access to and storage of potentially identifiable anatomical reproductions. This paper reviews available literature describing ethical implications for the application of these emerging technologies, existing published best practices for managing and sharing 2D imaging, and current adherence to these best practices by academic body donation programs. We conclude that informed consent is paramount for all uses of human donor and human donor‐derived materials and that currently there is considerable diversity in adherence to established best practices for the management and sharing of 3D digital content derived from human donors. We propose a new and simplified framework for categorizing donor‐derived teaching materials and the corresponding level of consent required for digital sharing. This framework proposes an equivalent minimum level of specific consent for human donor and human donor‐derived materials relative to generalized, nonidentical teaching materials (i.e., artificial plastic models). Likewise, we propose that the collective path forward should involve the creation of a centralized, secure repository for digital human donor 3D content as a mechanism for accumulating, regulating, and controlling the distribution of properly consented human donor‐derived 3D digital content that will also increase the availability of ethically created human‐derived teaching materials while discouraging commodification.