Splenic artery aneurysms 3D print

[SJSato]

Here is my print of Dr. Mike's splenic artery aneurysms model. I used my Ultimaker 2 and Colorfabb XT clear filament. Print time was 7 hours.  The model came out more of a milky translucent color than clear but I imagine you would still be able to see a catheter snaking through. The print isn't as refined as Dr. Mike's Shapeways model, but for a consumer level printer, not too bad!

 

 

Here is the print with the support structure in place. The Cura program the Ultimaker uses to slice the model seems to generate nice, easily removable support. I just used the generic settings. I spent around 10 minutes cleaning up the model. As far as I can tell, the interior walls of the artery printed out fairly smooth. I was a little concerned because no support could be used for the interior.

[Dr. Mike]

Hey great print! If the model is wet is the transparency increased at all? That might make it more useable from a catheter navigation standpoint.

[SJSato]

Wetting does not seem to increase the transparency. I am going to try to fiddle with the printer settings. This is where the black art of printing takes over. Changing the print speed, the use of the fan, layer height, and print temperature will change the look of the material. I think to get a clear model I really need a resin printer.

[SJSato]

I reprinted the Splenic artery, lowering the print temperature from 240C to 230C, decreasing print speed from 40mm/sec to 30mm/sec and increasing layer height from .12mm to .2mm. The model is definitely more translucent, probably 20% improvement.