Japanese medical insurance to cover cost of 3D printed organ models

Wow this is very interesting. 3ders.org reports that Japan’s Central Social Insurance Medical Council, an organization of the Ministry of Health, Labour and Welfare, has announced that the insurance will pick up the cost of 3D printed organ models.

What are these 3D printed models used for? these are for medical treatments and surgeries. My friend is an artist and he talked about 3D printed skeleton, hearts, kidneys. Anything is possible with 3D printing machine these days.

It’s a bit scary but 3D printed medical models can actually help surgeons around the world to prepare for non-routine risky procedures. They can practice on a full-scale, using the actual patient’s model.

Japan has national health insurance that is extended to everybody who holds legal residency in Japan. It is quite cool if this plan will work out so they will be able to cut the costs on health care in the long run.