3D printing technology is an emerging technology in recent years, which can achieve rapid display of objects through the feeding method. It has been widely used in various industrial sectors. Higher vocational and technical colleges are one of the important ways to cultivate higher technical personnel from various industries. They must keep up with the pace of educational reform and introduce 3D printing technology into corresponding classrooms. Under the guidance of the course "Fundamentals of Mechanical Design", this article utilizes 3D printing technology to apply common PRO/E to products, achieving various motion mechanisms, making the originally monotonous classroom teaching lively and allowing students to immediately showcase their creativity.

Background: Traditional education in neurosurgery primarily relies on observation, giving residents and interns limited opportunities for clinical practice. However, the development of 3D printing has the potential to improve this situation. Based on bibliometrics, we analyze the application of 3D printing technology in neurosurgery medical education and surgical training. Methods: We searched the publications in this field in Web of Science core collection database from September 2000 to September 2023. VOS viewer, Citespace and Microsoft Office Excel were used to visually analyze and draw knowledge graphs. Results: A total of 231 articles and reviews were included. The United States is the country with the largest volume of articles and Mayo Clinic is the leading organization in this field. Partnership between countries, authors and institutions is also presented. World Neurosurgery is the journal with the highest number of publications. The top three key words by occurrence rate are “3D printing”, “surgery” and “simulation”. Conclusions: In recent years, more and more attention has been paid to the research in this field. According to bibliometric analysis, “accuracy” and “surgery simulation” are the research focuses in this field, while “augment reality” is the potential research target.