Scientists make accurate 3D print of the heart

Scientists at an American children’s hospital have described a way to make a very accurate 3D print of the heart. By printing a patient’s heart in more detail, for example, it should be easier to make diagnoses.

The new way of making a 3D scan works with different imaging methods, the researchers describe. A scan is made with a CT scanner and images are made with a 3D echocardiograph. According to the scientists, this method turned out to yield good images and also makes it possible to involve a third technology: the MRI scanner, which makes images using magnetism.

According to the inventors, by combining the data from the different scanning methods, a more accurate image of the heart could be made than was possible until now. The data was then converted to a 3D print. The printed heart can be used by doctors, who can, for example, see from the anatomy what is wrong with a patient’s heart. This allows a doctor to better decide whether or not a condition requires surgery.

The heart consists of different structures, such as the atria and the ventricles, which cannot all be made equally visible with technology. The scientists did not comment on whether improving the scanning method could also lead to printing a transplantable heart.