3D printing of human anatomical models for preoperative surgical planning

Rapid Prototyping (RP) is an emerging technology, especially in a Three-Dimensional Printing (3DP) application. 3DP is used in many fields such as aeronautical, automotive, architecture, medical, and many others. 3DP can be effectively used in anatomical education for medical students who are pursuing their undergraduate degrees.It can also be used for pre-operative surgical planning by experts before surgery. Some complex organs of the human body which cannot be seen visible even after dissection of the cadaver can be printed using a 3D printer which provides haptic studies on organs and bones to students. These 3D printed parts can be used in pre-operative planning such as analysis and diagnosis formulation of affected organs. Further, it can be used in explaining the operative procedures to patients which helps them to understand and co-operate with the medical procedures. Therefore, this project aims at 3DP of complex organs and bones for anatomical studies and pre-operative planning procedures. As a first step in the project, some of the human bones were printed and analyzed for its quality.