In this study based on ethnographic methods, we investigated
how using a three-dimensional (3D) printed liver influenced
doctors during liver resection surgery. Results of the analy-
ses implied that using the 3D printed liver enhanced the con-
struction of elaborate mental models of patients’ livers, the
mental simulation of liver resections, and the construction of
shared mental models of patients’ livers among doctors. Based
on these results, we compared the advantages of using a 3D
printed liver over a two-dimensional (2D) and a 3D image dur-
ing surgery.
