Abstract
Purpose Tracheobronchial stents are commonly used in airway management as a form of palliation for obstruction. This form of therapy immediately relieves the patients from lifethreatening conditions and significantly improves their quality of life. In the cases of complex tracheobronchial obstruction, customised airway stents are required for effective palliation. In this work, an Airway Stent Customisation Protocol ASCP is introduced. Designmethodologyapproach It describes two variant routes that use a combination of rapid prototyping RP and rapid tooling RT techniques to fabricate customised airway stents in short lead times. The ASCP allows the stents to be tailored in terms of geometry, and distending strength. A brief comparison between the ASCP and other RPRT manufacturing routes is also carried out. Findings The ability to customise airway stents in short lead times is important as it allows surgeons to swiftly treat lifethreatening conditions arising from tracheobronchial obstructions. It is shown that the ASCP is capable of providing relief to patients quickly. The application of RP and RT in the ASCP has not only allowed shorter response time to patients, but has also allowed the stents to be produced at a relatively low cost. Originalityvalue Tracheobronchial stents are commonly used in patients facing advanced stages of cancer. Focuses on a time and costeffective solution that is provided to improve their quality of life.