Best CAD software for anatomical modeling

[kakaydin]

I only recently discovered that 3D printing is available to the masses and am really excited about its role in future medicine.  The durable devices, the surgical instrumentation, the educational aids, oh my!

 

I'd like to tinker around a bit, so the question is what modeling programs are best suited for the complex, organic architectural motifs of the human body?  Long ago, I worked with engineering SW like autocad, ProE, and Catia, but would like to know if anyone has suggestions for programs better suited for body parts.  Any favorites out there?  Especially free ones    Thanks!

[Dr. Mike]

Hello kakaydin,

 

This is a real sticking point with 3D printing in medicine. There is indeed enormous potential, but real innovation is currently limited by the lack of availability and high price of software that can do medical 3D printing.

 

That being said with patience and practice you can do it. I actually don't use CAD software to prep my models for 3D printing. You will need to use some software package that can read DICOM images and generate an STL file. I use Osirix, a free open source DICOM reader for Macintosh. In this software you segment the structure you want and then export it to STL. From there I import it into Blender. This is a free open-source software package on most platforms designed for CGI animation. Because animation often deals with organic shapes, it is better than true CAD software. Blender has a tough learning curve but is capable once you have invested some time (and it's free!). 

 

I have a series of tutorials that I have planned to release on the Embodi3D website in the next month or two on just how to do this. If you like, I can let you know when I get them online.

[Michael Holland]

I would also definitely be interested in seeing those tutorials, Dr. Mike! 

 

[mplishka]

Hi All! Just found this site via Dr. Mike's Twitter profile.  

 

I wanted to share some software that people can play with that are free for segmentation, etc.

 

Slicer: http://www.slicer.org/  Very straightforward and clear tutorials. 

 

Devide:   http://code.google.com/p/devide/  Convoluted but still very useful. The folks at TUDeflt have some very cool stuff

 

ITK-Snap http://www.itksnap.org/pmwiki/pmwiki.php  Semi-automated segmentation.

 

MiaLite: http://www.mia-solution.com/downloads.html Free for academic use. Seems pretty cool. Haven't had a chance to play with it yet but will.

 

Finally, here's a site that has some pretty impressive tools:

I Do Imaging: http://www.idoimaging.com/home  Just great overall resource.

 

Looking forward to the future with all of you!

 

 

[Dr. Mike]

Thanks for the links Mike!

[mplishka]

You're welcome, Dr. Mike!

[Arish Mousaeezadeh]

For Modeling 3D scan ( for example AK Prothese) in orthopedic is blender also works ?

i saw some other program such as geo magic freeform it was really good but expensive. 

[Dr. Mike]

Arish, This is a pretty old thread and things have changed in the years since it was started. What exactly are you doing. There are many more software options now. If I knew what you are trying to do I can point you in the right direction.

 

Dr. Mike

[Arish Mousaeezadeh]

Dr. Mike I am an orthopedic technician student in germany in dual system. Work and Kollege together. 

I need this software for modeling and 3D printing from 3D scan( for example 3Dscan of leg ) and modeling Prothese shaft and printing it instead of modeling  gibs and making in with carbon fiber. I’ll send u some links 

the best program I saw is geomatics c freeform but that’s really expensive

 

 Tnx 

[kopachini]

Dear Aris, as you found out Geomagic Freeform and Materialise 3-Matic for 3D modeling are very expensive (annual license cost between 5000 -11000 € depending  what features are included, what field you want to use them for, etc.).

But there are also open-source softwares like Blender, Meshmixer, Meshlab (more for engineers), MeVisLab... Unfortunately, Blender and Meshmixer, alone, don't have all these features as Freeform, but if you combine two of them you can make pretty decent models with great accuracy.

You should familiarise with that softwares, and there are lots of tutorials available on youtube, and internet pages like https://www.blender.org/support/tutorials/ , and https://blenderartists.org/forum/ ...

 

Hope this helps a bit

[Arish Mousaeezadeh]

Dear Kopachini,

thank you for your replay.yes i try to familiarize myself with those software.

[froth]

Dr. Mike what new software could you recommend for vascular 3d printing?

[Leesajohnson]

design and structure of any modal. There are also available other software work just like it. Analysis them for better work.  --------------------------------------(Tutor)

[Zuha Yousuf]

Hi can anyone suggest a good modeling software recently for modeling organs such as animal pelvic viscera and nerves? I'm seeing a lot of people recommend Blender, but was wondering if there are other software suggestions as well.