3D Printing: Print the future of ophthalmology.

The three-dimensional (3D) printer is a new technology that creates physical objects from digital files. Recent technological advances in 3D printing have resulted in increased use of this technology in the medical field, where it is beginning to revolutionize medical and surgical possibilities. It is already providing medicine with powerful tools that facilitate education, surgical planning, and organ transplantation research. A good understanding of this technology will be beneficial to ophthalmologists. The potential applications of 3D printing in ophthalmology, both current and future, are explored in this article. Copyright 2014 The Association for Research in Vision and Ophthalmology, Inc.