Making three-dimensional echocardiography more tangible: a workflow for three-dimensional printing with echocardiographic data

Figures

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  Figure 1. Summarized workflow for 3D printing of a 3D TEE data set of a mitral valve after a MitraClip procedure. Examples of file formats used are included where applicable. From left to right: After export from the ultrasound system, the data set is converted to the Philips Cartesian DICOM format (first panel). Using segmentation software the voxels in the region of interest are labeled, creating a ‘solid’ voxel model (second panel). A triangular surface mesh model is generated based on the voxel model (third panel). The mesh model is processed by the slicing software, generating a printer code, which directs the printing of the final model (fourth panel). (File formats: NIFTI, Neuroimaging Informatics Technology Initiative; NRRD, Nearly Raw Raster Data; STL, Stereolithography; PLY, Polygon; OBJ, Wavefront Object.)

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  Figure 2. 3D-printed model of the blood volume in the left atrial appendage (LAA). The model on the far right is a negative mold of the LAA. The 3D TEE data set was exported as a Philips’ Cartesian DICOM and converted to NRRD format using 3D slicer’s SlicerHeart extension. The NRRD file was then segmented using ITK-Snap. Model was exported as STL. Clipping and inversion to the negative model were performed using openSCAD. Models were printed using a desktop fused deposition modeling printer (Aleph Objects Taz 5).

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  Figure 3. Aortic and ventricular views of an aortic root model obtained from 3D transesophageal echo data. This model was printed with transparent photo-resin using the Formlabs Form 2 printer.