have you ever been rushed into hospital and wondered am i going to survive, am i going to be okay? one hundred fifty years ago two things could have badly affected you: pain
3d printing research and development, and infection and thanks to the development of the history of medicine and surgery, both of those two things are now thankfully a
rare occurrence. king's has always been at the forefront of medical development and it has made a significant contribution by way of research and innovation. for example joseph lister, one of my heroes was professor of surgery here at king's college hospital. lister was an important man because he essentially pioneered the
antiseptic principle in the practice of surgery, which drastically improved lives. by the 1950's pain and infection were relatively under control however the techniques of surgery was still rudimentary, with large incisions to access body cavities such as the thorax, abdomen, and pelvis. my surgical team and i had an illuminating
experience when we took part in a replica operation performed on king george vi in a series called 'the crown'. we got a real taste of what it was like to do that operation. fast forward to today, the integration of science into technology and into healthcare has really improved patient
care. i'm pleased to say that king's has been at the forefront of some of that innovation. the really exciting aspect of my research is using 3d printing to de-risk very challenging types of surgery. we get the ct scans and mr scans of the patients and then the 3d printer converts those scans through some special software into a plastic
replicated model so we can actually simulate the operation before actually doing it in real time and that increases our confidence, helps us plan approaches and also gives us a hands-on and pre-session in our own minds of really and
the complexities involved. innovations in medicine and surgery are really pushing the boundaries of science, and as a
researcher it's really exciting to be a part of that.
