3D Printing a Heart Model with Ventricular Septal Defect or VSD

Ventricular Septal Defect or VSD is a hole in the wall separating the two lower chambers of the heart. Ventricular Septal Defect is a common heart defect that's present at birth (congenital). In normal development, the wall between the chambers closes before the fetus is born, so that by birth, oxygen-rich blood is kept from mixing with the oxygen-poor blood. When the hole does not close, it may cause higher pressure in the heart or reduced oxygen to the body. A small ventricular septal defect may cause no problems, and many small VSDs close on their own. Larger VSDs need surgical repair early in life to prevent complications.

These STL files are derived from a Magnetic Resonance Imaging (MRI) of a 3 year old girl with complex perimembranous to muscular VSD with band dividing it into a large anterior component and smaller posterior component. There are 3 separate files as well as an STL file for 3D printing the whole model at once. The three STL files have been zipped and available for download. Alternatively, one STL file representing the whole model is also available for download. The three part model has holes for magnets, which can be used to connect and separate the pieces.

The model is provided for distribution on Embodi3D with the permission of the author, pediatric cardiologist Dr. Matthew Bramlet, MD, and is part of the Congenital Heart Defects library. We thank Dr. Bramlet and all others who are working to help children with congenital heart problems lead normal and happy lives.

It is distributed by Dr. Bramlet under the Creative Commons license Attribution-NonCommercial-NoDerivs. Please respect the terms of the licensing agreement. A US quarter is shown for scale in the images below.