The Benefits of 3D Printing Anatomy and 3D Slicer Training
By: Louise van der Werff
Another 3D Slicer training workshop has been set! Running across two consecutive afternoons on the 25th and 26th of August, this workshop follows on from the alpha training workshop in late July, which you can read more about in my last blog post.
Registrations can be made for the new workshop via Eventbrite here.
A couple of months ago I had the pleasure of attending a seminar by Professor Paul McMenamin, who is the Director of the Centre for Human Anatomy Education at Monash University. The talk, titled “Innovations In Replication of Human Anatomical Dissections by 3D Printing: uses in Education and Research”, discussed ways in which the use of 3D printed bio-models for teaching and training purposes could replace more expensive and less accessible methods such as the use of cadavers and plastinates (diseased human bodies).
Obviously exposure to real human anatomy is a great way for medical students to learn. However, the cost of accessing cadavers can be in the thousands of dollars, and further preservation techniques such as plastination (a technique used to preserve a whole body or parts of the body by removing water and fat and replacing them with certain plastics) requires specialised labs, licenses and materials, and can add tens of thousands of dollars more onto the cost.
Image: A plastinate of a horses hoof. Photo by Dr. Christoph von Horst (own work; http://www.plastinate.com) via Wikimedia Commons.
Coupled with the strict ethical considerations involved, real human bodies are not an ideal or necessary medium for all teaching situations.
One alternative to the use of cadavers and plastinates for teaching purposes are stylised plastic models. These can be cheap, but are often not very realistic.
Paul and his team have come up with an alternative: 3D modelling and printing real human anatomy. CT scans of human anatomy are used to generate highly realistic 3 dimensional digital models, which are digitally coloured to distinguish different anatomical features, before being 3D printed (in colour!). For comparison, a plastinate of an arm might cost $14,000, while a 3D printed equivalent model can be produced at around the $100 mark. Couple this with the fact that a large number of live patients can be used as models for comparative purposes, multiple copies of the same model may be generated easily, and at a range of different scales, it is an attractive alternative for anatomy education.
Pictured below is a 3D colour printed model of the blood vessels in a human skull, a structure that would be very difficult to produce any other way.
Image: A 3D printed anatomical model displayed at the seminar.
Cells and other microscopic structures may also be modelled and printed relatively easily.
All in all, it was a fascinating look into the ways 3D printing technologies may be harnessed in the medical field.
For more information about anatomical 3D printing at Monash, follow this link.
If you would like more information about the 3D Slicer training, or have any other questions, please contact me at louisevanderwerff@gmail.com.
