Clinical application of patient-specific 3D printing brain tumor model production system for neurosurgery

Sci Rep. 2021 Mar 26;11(1):7005. doi: 10.1038/s41598-021-86546-y.

Abstract

The usefulness of 3-dimensional (3D)-printed disease models has been recognized in various medical fields. This study aims to introduce a production platform for patient-specific 3D-printed brain tumor model in clinical practice and evaluate its effectiveness. A full-cycle platform was created for the clinical application of a 3D-printed brain tumor model (3D-printed model) production system. Essential elements included automated segmentation software, cloud-based interactive communication tools, customized brain models with exquisite expression of brain anatomy in transparent material, adjunctive devices for surgical simulation, and swift process cycles to meet practical needs. A simulated clinical usefulness validation was conducted in which neurosurgeons assessed the usefulness of the 3D-printed models in 10 cases. We successfully produced clinically applicable patient-specific models within 4 days using the established platform. The simulated clinical usefulness validation results revealed the significant superiority of the 3D-printed models in surgical planning regarding surgical posture (p = 0.0147) and craniotomy design (p = 0.0072) compared to conventional magnetic resonance images. The benefit was more noticeable for neurosurgeons with less experience. We established a 3D-printed brain tumor model production system that is ready to use in daily clinical practice for neurosurgery.

Publication types

  • Research Support, Non-U.S. Gov't

MeSH terms

  • Adult
  • Aged
  • Brain Neoplasms / diagnostic imaging
  • Brain Neoplasms / pathology*
  • Brain Neoplasms / surgery
  • Computer Simulation*
  • Female
  • Follow-Up Studies
  • Humans
  • Magnetic Resonance Imaging / methods*
  • Male
  • Middle Aged
  • Models, Anatomic
  • Neurosurgeons / statistics & numerical data*
  • Neurosurgery / methods*
  • Printing, Three-Dimensional / statistics & numerical data*
  • Prognosis
  • Retrospective Studies
  • Tomography, X-Ray Computed / methods*
  • Young Adult