Methods and applications for cardiovascular 3D-printing

Abstract

Background: Three-dimensional printing is rapidly growing field that enables the exact replication of anatomical structures in a physical model. 3D printing may be used for cardiothoracic procedural planning, education and a variety of research purposes. Multiple 3D printer designs exist and the technological requirements may be complex for clinician scientists. Methods: Using high quality imaging data from multiple modalities we have 3d-printed a range of cardiovascular structures using different printing techniques in order to assess their suitability for cardiovascular applications. We isolated and generated 3D meshes of a whole heart (gated cardiac CT), aortic coarctation (cardiac MRI), mitral valve (3D echocardiography) and left atrium (cardiac CT). We used fusedfilament fabrication (FFF), polymer jet, laser stereolithographic (SLA) and powder bed 3D printers to print selected structures. The advantages and limitation of each printing method was assessed. Results: 3D printing is highly contingent on the quality of the underlying imaging data and image post-processing is required. 3D mesh generation can be difficult and care needs to be taken to preserve accuracy during data manipulation. Printing techniques vary widely with regards to minimal resolution, colour reproduction, speed, cost and geometric limitations. Conclusion: 3D printing is a useful and feasible technique for displaying three-dimensional cardiac imaging. The printing technique used should be tailored to the application. Current technology allows 3D printing to be widely implemented.