Abstract
Three-dimensional (3D) printing is a rapidly evolving technology with several potential applications in the diagnosis and management of cardiac disease. Recently, 3D printing (i.e. rapid prototyping) derived from 3D transesophageal echocardiography (TEE) has become possible. Due to the multiple steps involved and the specific equipment required for each step, it might be difficult to start implementing echocardiography-derived 3D printing in a clinical setting. In this review, we provide an overview of this process, including its logistics and organization of tools and materials, 3D TEE image acquisition strategies, data export, format conversion, segmentation, and printing. Generation of patient-specific models of cardiac anatomy from echocardiographic data is a feasible, practical application of 3D printing technology.
Highlights
Imaging techniques such as computerized tomography (CT), magnetic resonance imaging (MRI), and transesophageal echocardiography (TEE) are commonly used for diagnosis, monitoring, and decision-making in patients with cardiovascular disease [1, 2]
While 3D images have been helpful in surgical planning, they lack the haptic feel and true 3D perspective that would be obtained with an actual, patient-specific physical model
Drawing upon our experience we have described the workflow for 3D printing of cardiac anatomical structures from 3D TEE data
Summary
Making three-dimensional echocardiography more tangible: a workflow for three-dimensional printing with echocardiographic data. Azad Mashari MD1,2, Mario Montealegre-Gallegos MD2, Ziyad Knio BS3, Lu Yeh MD2,4, Jelliffe Jeganathan MBBS2, Robina Matyal MD2, Kamal R Khabbaz MD3 and Feroze Mahmood MD2
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