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3D Printing in Medicine

A blog by Dr. Mike in General

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Musings about biomedical 3D printing

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3D printed models help with surgery for complex congenital heart disease

Researchers at the Children's National Medical Center in Washington DC have used 3D printed heart models to aid repair of congenital heart defects. In the International Journal of Cardiology, the researchers report the case of a patient with transposition of the great arteries, a congenital heart defect in which the pulmonary artery and aorta are switched. Without treatment this condition is fatal in infancy. The man apparently had surgical treatment as a child, but as an adult began to have pro

May 7, 2014

2

How to Create 3D Printable Models from Medical Scans in 30 Minutes Using Free Software: Osirix, Blender, and Meshmixer

UPDATED TUTORIAL: A Ridiculously Easily Way to Convert CT Scans to 3D Printable Bone STL Models for Free in Minutes Hello, it's Dr. Mike here again with another tutorial and video on medical 3D printing. In this tutorial we're going to learn how to take a DICOM-based medical imaging scan, such as a CT scan, and convert into an STL file in preparation for 3D printing. We will use the free, open-source software program Osirix to do this. Once the file is converted into STL format, we w

July 18, 2015

4

How to Easily Tell the Difference Between MRI and CT Scan

If you are planning on using the democratiz3D service to automatically convert a medical scan to a 3D printable STL model, or you just happen to be working with medical scans for another reason, it is important to know if you are working with a CT (Computed Tomography or CAT) or MRI (Magnetic Resonance Imaging) scan. In this tutorial I'll show you how to quickly and easily tell the difference between a CT and MRI. I am a board-certified radiologist, and spent years mastering the subt

May 3, 2017

4

A Ridiculously Easy Way to Convert CT Scans to 3D Printable Bone STL Models for Free in Minutes

Please note the democratiz3D service was previously named "Imag3D" In this tutorial you will learn how to quickly and easily make 3D printable bone models from medical CT scans using the free online service democratiz3D®. The method described here requires no prior knowledge of medical imaging or 3D printing software. Creation of your first model can be completed in as little as 10 minutes. You can download the files used in this tutorial by clicking on this link. You must have

October 3, 2016

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Medical 3D Model Creation: From CT Scan to 3D Printable STL File in 20 Minutes Using Free Software Programs 3D Slicer, Blender, and Meshmixer

UPDATED TUTORIAL: A Ridiculously Easily Way to Convert CT Scans to 3D Printable Bone STL Models for Free in Minutes Hello, it's Dr. Mike here again with another tutorial on 3D printing. Proprietary software that creates 3D printable models from medical scans typically costs tens of thousands of dollars to license. But, did you know that you can do the same thing using freeware? It's true! In this tutorial I'm going to show you exactly how to do this. We will be using the free,

October 10, 2015

10

3D Printed Casts for Healing Fractures

Deniz Karasahin recently won a A'Design award for a 3-D printed medical cast that allows for improved ventilation and patient comfort when compared to traditional plaster or fiberglass casts. The organic 3-D printed structure has multiple ventilation holes which do not, presumably, compromise the mechanical integrity or strength of the cast. The cast is created after scanning the patients target body area and importing the data into CAD software. The cast is printed with ABS plastic

April 24, 2014

2

How to create an NRRD file from a DICOM Medical Imaging Data Set

NRRD is a file format for storing and visualizing medical image data. Its main benefit over DICOM, the standard file format for medical imaging, is that NRRD files are anonymized and contain no sensitive patient information. Furthermore NRRD files can store a medical scan in a single file, whereas DICOM data sets are usually comprised of a directory or directories that contain dozens if not hundreds of individual files. NRRD is thus a good file for transferring medical scan data while protecting

September 8, 2016

7

Saving a Spleen with 3D Printing: Pre-Surgical Planning with Medical Models make "Impossible" Surgeries Possible.

Summary: 3D printing is making rapid advances in many areas of medical treatment. In this article, I'll describe how I used recent advances in 3D printing to save a patient from having to have her spleen removed. In the process I broke some new ground in use of 3D printing in surgical planning. The clinical case and 3D printing advances are described in a recently published peer-reviewed paper in the medical journal Diagnostic and Interventional Radiology. Intro image: The author usi

June 9, 2015

3

3D Printing of Bones from CT Scans: A Tutorial on Quickly Correcting Extensive Mesh Errors using Blender and MeshMixer

Hello and welcome back. Once again, I am Dr. Mike, board-certified radiologist and 3D printing enthusiast. Today I'm going to show you how to correct severe mesh defects in a bone model generated from a CT scan. This will be in preparation for 3D printing. I'll be using the free software programs Blender and Meshmixer. In my last medical 3d printing video tutorial, I showed you how to remove extraneous mesh within the medullary cavity of a bone. That technique is best used when mesh defects

March 4, 2015

7

Preparing CT scans for 3D printing. Cleaning and repairing STL file mesh from bones using Blender, an advanced tutorial

Summary: This is an advanced tutorial and assumes that you already know how to create STL files from CT scans. If you do not yet know how to do this, stay tuned, as a series of tutorials is planned on this website. Here we will use a free, open-source software package Blender to repair and correct a bony pelvis and lumbar spine model generated from a CT scan. If you would like to follow along with this tutorial, you can download the relevant Blender and STL files here, and follow along. >

January 28, 2015

6

A Collection of Free Skull Medical Model STL Files from CT Scans - Ready for 3D Printing

A lot of great 3D printable anatomic files have been shared on Embodi3D in the past few years. One of the most popular categories is skulls. There are many files available, and they are organized under Skull and Head STLs in the file Downloads area of the site. You can download any of these files by registering an account and in most cases the files are free to download. Below I created a list of my favorite skull files for your learning and enjoyment. These 3D printable skull m

May 2, 2015

0

Choosing the Best Medical Imaging Scan to Create a 3D Printed Medical Model

Hello, it's Dr. Mike here again with another tutorial on medical 3D printing. In this tutorial we are going to learn what types of medical imaging scans can be used for 3D printing. We will also explore the characteristics those scans must have to ensure a high quality 3D print. This is one of a series of 3D printing tutorials that will teach you how to create 3D printed anatomical and medical models yourself. Open source and commercial software are covered in the tutorials along with 3D printer

July 16, 2015

7

3D printed skull base generated from CT scan data accurately demonstrates complex skull base anatomy.

The base of the skull is one of the most complex and difficult parts of the body for doctors in training to master. And one of the most important. It is comprised of multiple bones (the ethmoid, sphenoid, occipital, frontal, parietal, and temporal, to be exact) and has numerous foramina (holes) through which arteries, veins, and the vital cranial nerves and spinal cord exit the skull on their way to and from the body. These structures, although very small, are critically important c

April 30, 2014

5

Spine STL files from CT Scans for 3D printing cervical, lumbar, thoracic vertebrae for medical modeling - Download Free Collection

I have received several requests for spine STL files from CT scans and these files have been added to the file vault over time as more people are 3D printing vertebrae for medical moldeling. There was a really good response to my last article about the wonderful 3D printable skull models available for free download on the embodi3D.com website. So, I've decided to do another article about spine models. Embodi3D.com contains a large collection of spine STL files within the Spine and Pe

May 25, 2015

0

Creating 3D Printable Medical Models and STL Files for Free: Online Services vs. Desktop Software - Slicer and Meshmixer

Note: This tutorial accompanies a workshop I presented at the 2016 Radiological Society of North America (RSNA) meeting. The workflow and techniques presented in this tutorial and the conference workshop are identical. In this tutorial we will be using two different ways to create a 3-D printable medical model of a head and neck which will be derived from a real contrast-enhanced CT scan. The model will show detailed anatomy of the bones, as well as the veins and arteries

November 26, 2016

0

3D Printing Teeth Tutorial: How to Easily Create 3D Printable Dental, Orthodontic, and Maxillofacial Models from Medical CT Scans

In this tutorial we will learn how to easily create a 3D printable dental, orthodontic, or maxillofacial bone model quickly and easily using the free democratiz3D® file conversion service on the embodi3D.com website. Creating the 3D printable dental model takes about 10 minutes and requires no prior experience or specialized knowledge. Dental 3D printing is one of the many uses for democratiz3D. You can 3D print teeth, braces, dental implants and so much more. Step

May 26, 2017

0

Creating a 3D Printable Skull from a CT Scan in 5 Minutes using Freeware.

UPDATED TUTORIAL: A Ridiculously Easily Way to Convert CT Scans to 3D Printable Bone STL Models for Free in Minutes Hello and welcome back. I hope you enjoyed my last tutorial on creating 3D printable medical models using free software on Macintosh computers. In this brief video tutorial I'll show you how to create a 3D printable skull STL file from a CT scan in FIVE minutes using only free and open source software. In the video I use a program called 3D Slicer, which is available fr

September 28, 2015

5

How to Convert Multiple 3D Printable Bone Model STL Files from a CT Scan

Please note that any references to “Imag3D” in this tutorial has been replaced with “democratiz3D” In this tutorial you will learn how to create multiple 3D printable bone models simultaneously using the free online CT scan to bone STL converter, democratiz3D. We will use the free desktop program Slicer to convert our CT scan in DICOM format to NRRD format. We will also make a small section of the CT scan into its own NRRD file to create a second stand-alone model. The NRRD files wil

October 11, 2016

2

Easily Create 3D Printable Muscle and Skin STL Files from Medical CT Scans

In this tutorial we will learn how to use the free medical imaging conversion service on embodi3D.com to create detailed anatomic muscle and skin 3D printable models in STL file format from medical CT scans. Muscle models show the detailed musculature by subtracting away the skin and fat. Even when created from a scan of an obese person, the model looks like it comes from a bodybuilder, Figure 1A. Skin models show an exact replica of the skin surface. The finest details are captured, including w

October 30, 2016

2

3D Printable Lace Skull, Free for Download.

I've been working on ways to artistically expand on 3D printed anatomic models beyond an exact replica of the anatomy. My first project is this Lace Skull. The skull is based on an anatomically accurate skull generated from a CT scan. I have made several of the earlier skull models available for download on the Embodi3D website here and here. Using a variety of methods, I have transformed the skull and given it a unique lace-like appearance. The overall surface contours are still anatomically ac

September 4, 2014

0

How to Create a Hollow Shell from a Medical STL File Using MeshMixer

In this brief tutorial we will go over how to use Meshmixer to create a hollow shell from a medical 3D printable STL file. Hollowing out the shell, as shown in the pictures below, can allow you to 3D print the model using much less material that printing a solid piece. The print will take less time and cost less money. For this tutorial we will use a head that we created from a real medical CT scan in a prior tutorial, " Easily Create 3D Printable Muscle and Skin STL Files from Medic

November 19, 2016

2

3D Printed Lumbar Vertebra

Last year as part of my tests for creating bony anatomic models, I created a model of a lumbar vertebral body from a CT scan. The process was somewhat time-consuming as manual mesh editing was required to separate the vertebral body from its adjacent bony structures. I used Blender for this. Nonetheless, the end result looks good and accurately demonstrates the bony anatomy of a lumbar vertebra. I've created a YouTube video which briefly summarizes the steps of creation. Also

April 21, 2014

0

3D Printable Human Heart Model

Lately I've been working on creating a 3D printed human heart from a CT scan. Printing cardiovascular structures like the heart is more difficult than bony structures since the blood vessels are usually not well visualized without a CT scan that uses intravenous contrast. Furthermore, the heart is always moving, and special techniques need to be performed during the scan to generate high-quality images that are free from motion artifact. This is one of several models I've been working on. I

September 24, 2014

0

3D Printing Tutorial: Introduction to Free and Open-Source Software, 3D Slicer, MeshMixer, democratiz3D. From the 2018 RSNA Meeting

This tutorial is based on course I taught at the 2018 RSNA meeting in Chicago, Illinois. It is shared here free to the public. In this tutorial, we walk though how to convert a CT scan of the face into a 3D printable file, ready to be sent to a 3D printer. The patient had a gunshot wound to the face. We use only free or open-source software and services for this tutorial. There are two parts to this tutorial: Part 1: How to use free desktop software to create your model

November 27, 2018

1

Using Free and Open-Source Software and Web Services to Create 3D Printable Anatomic Models from Medical Scans, Workshop from the 2017 Radiological Society of North America (RSNA) Meeting

Hello everybody it's Dr. Mike here again with another medical 3D printing tutorial. In this tutorial we are going to be going over freeware and open-source software options for medical 3D printing. This tutorial is based on a workshop I am giving at the 2017 Radiological Society of North America (RSNA) Annual Meeting in Chicago Illinois, November 2017. In this tutorial we will be going over desktop software that can be used to create 3D printable anatomic models from medical scans, as well as a

November 23, 2017

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