Meet Louise - 3D Modelling Medical Scans!

Hello all,

My name is Louise and I am the newest member of the Research Bazaar team, having just started as a Research Community Coordinator with the team at Research Platform.

After completing a Bachelor of Science and a Bachelor of Engineering (Materials) at Monash University in 2008, I went on to do a PhD in collaboration with Monash University, CSIRO, and Smith & Nephew. During my PhD I developed novel multi-component composite fibres with thermochromic behaviour. In other words, they changed colour with temperature changes (think mood rings in fibre form). Tuned to work in the physiological temperature range, these fibres were created as a potential method for thermal mapping of wounds beds, via their incorporation into bandages.

Later down the track, I was involved in a Researcher in Business program within CSIRO, helping Australian medical devices company Anatomics develop their porous polyethylene surgical implant material PoreStar. Outside of academia I have pursued my own developing interest in 3D printing by purchasing a Makerbot Replicator 2X, combining my knowledge and interest in polymer processing with my passion for DIYing and craft. With this new and exciting piece of hardware I taught myself some rudimentary 3D modelling skills and combined 3D printing with silicone moulding, epoxy resin casting, and general crafty inspiration to come up with some cool new products I now sell online and at markets under the brand name Wordosaurus Text.

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a. my Makerbot replicator 2X, b. a treble clef 3D model in MakerWare c. a silicone mould of the 3D printed master shapes d. A final epoxy resin cast.

I have joined the ResBaz team at Research Platforms to develop awareness and run training sessions relating to medical image processing, in particular the generation of 3D models from medical scan data in the DICOM file format. DICOM image files are produced by a range of medical imaging equipment, (MRI, CT, PET, XRay etc), and consist of a series or stack of cross-sectional image slices across a region of interest in the body. By combining these slices a 3 dimensional representation of the body can be generated.

Generating 3D models of anatomical features from DICOM image files can be beneficial in multiple scenarios. Physical 3D prints of anatomical features such as bones may be used for teaching or training purposes, for the planning of a complex surgery to reduce overall theatre time and risk, and for the creation of implants custom designed and fit to a particular patient. The “3D Printing for Medical Applications” seminar (#3DMed), held on the 14th of April this year, highlighted many applications in which this functionality has been harnessed, and how it could be harnessed in the future.

The software around which the training will be designed is 3D Slicer, an open source community platform with a wide range of capabilities. It’s modular nature provides flexibility and the ability to add on new functionalities as required.  It’s interactive visualisation capabilities includes the ability to display arbitrarily oriented image slices; segment, label features and generate colourmaps, and render 3D models of desired anatomical structures.

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Screenshot taken within 3D Slicer from inbuilt example dataset ‘CTChest’

As this training course is in the very early stages of development, there is ample opportunity for community input and feedback in regards to the content of the material covered. This course is intended to provide researchers and medical staff with valuable and relevant image processing and 3D modelling skills. If you feel you would benefit from this course, or if you know somebody who might, please feel free to contact me to discuss your requirements, at louisevanderwerff@gmail.com, or tweet me at @LouWerff.