3D printing white matter tracts in the brain. MR tractography

[Dr. Mike]

I've recently been asked about how to 3D print white matter tracts from brain MRI. I know it can be done because I wrote a blog article about this a few years back, but I don't know, technically, how to do it.

 

Does anybody have experience with converting MRI DTI data to 3D print? I know several members of the community would be interested in the answer.

 

Thanks,

 

Dr. Mike

[mikefazz]

Well 3DSlicer has an extension to work with DTI data but just being able to view it doesn't mean a surface model can be made.  Definitely would be a challenging part to make.

[Dr. Mike]

Thanks for the feedback Mike. I'll take a look at this extension. 

[Biomaquetas]

Hello people!! Anyone with this topic?? I'm interested doing something like color 3D print a tractography but with the color merged... I think I could do this with a Diamond Hotend

[Dr. Mike]

I've never heard of this. It almost sounds too good to be true. Anybody have experience with this?

[Flaviu]

If you want FDM printing with many colors you should consider the da Vinci Color from XYZ printing (https://www.xyzprinting.com/de-DE/product/da-vinci-color). 

The print quality is OK for an FDM printer. They are also not very reliable (compared to something like a Prusa MK3).

 

But you can print with many colors and they lowered the prizes a bit.

[Dr. Mike]

Thanks for the recommendation.

[valchanov]

Here is a tutorial about 3d Slicer's DMRI module. There is a DMRI set included at the Slicer's webside.
The printing is a whole different topic. If you have an access to polyjet printer, you can print transparent brain model with all the tracts, printed in different colors inside it. If you don't have one - well, good luck with that.