April 4, 2013

Notre Dame imaging specialists create 3-D images to aid surgeons




University of Notre Dame researchers have successfully created three-dimensional anatomical models from CT scans using 3-D printing technology, a process that holds promise for medical professionals and their patients. A paper by the researchers, “3D Printing of Preclinical X-ray Computed Tomographic Data Sets,” was published in the Journal of Visualized Experiments this week.

The strategy was initiated last spring by then-freshman Evan Doney, a Glynn Family Honors student in the laboratory of W. Matthew Leevy, research assistant professor at the Notre Dame Integrated Imaging Facility. “It’s a very clever idea,” Leevy said. “He did a lot of it independently. He figured out how to convert the tomographic data to a surface map for editing and subsequent 3-D printing.”