About the Project
Doctors at the University of Iowa wanted to fix a 10-year-old girl's defective heart without using scalpels. But they weren't sure their technique would work, worried that, based on the architecture of the girl's heart, a replacement valve would fall out of place and block other arteries.
A CT scan of her heart was brought to Protostudios, a 3D printing lab at the University of Iowa. The staff used the scan to print a silicone replica of the heart's pumping chamber and surrounding arteries. In the lab, a doctor placed the heart on the bed, exactly where the girl would lie. He ran the tube into the fake heart and pulled back, leaving the valve. It sat on the silicone artery, where it was needed.
Two months passed, and the doctor performed the technique on the girl. It went just as the model had indicated.
This project went through two distinct phases, with two versions of the product. The Protostudios team worked closely with the client, Dr. Yuki Nakamura, MD, to ensure that the final product fulfilled the client's needs. At every stage of your project, we are by your side to help your idea come to life.
Solution One
Segment area of interest and convert into 3D CAD model.
Clean up and generate 3D models for printing.
Print the tissue-like 3D models of the heart section and modeled 3D patch for surgeons to simulate.
Results
After attempting to practice the procedure on the 3D printed heart and patch, the doctors determined that the material used to make the 3D printed heart was not durable enough, and would break apart while they were practicing the suturing. These initial tests showed that the material was simply not as durable as human tissue, so Dr. Nakamura and our team went a different route to develop a heart to practice on.
Solution Two
Create multiple silicone hearts with the new mold and process and deliver to team of doctors.
Use medical-grade silicone and silicone colorant to create client's desired color.
Use previous 3D model of heart to create a silicone pour mold for the heart itself.
3D print the new heart mold.
Results
The silicone molded heart was an improvement over the previous 3D printed version for multiple reasons: most importantly, the silicone hearts were much easier to suture and practice on, as the material was closer to human tissue and didn't tear like the 3D print material did. The other major benefit was that creating many silicone hearts is much less expensive than individually 3D printing a large number of hearts. The use of a mold also allows for a small production run of the product and also ensures more consistency in the silicone hearts produced.
Dr. Ravi Ashwath, a pediatric cardiologist with UIHC, said practice on the realistic printed organs not only can help surgeons complete real procedures in less time, but also reduce the risk of medical complications requiring future operation. With regard to trainees and patient families, "It's very easy to show them, this is the problem, this is what we want to fix,” Ashwath said, talking about a defective heart.
Information gathered from: thehawkeye.com | thegazette.com