3D printed HeartPrint model helps 16-year-old heart tumour patient

A specialist in 3D printing for medical applications, has created a 3D-printed heart model for doctors at Cincinnati Children’s Hospital to help treat Bradley White, a 16-year-old boy born with a tumour.  With the aid of Materialise’s HeartPrint 3D-printed model,  doctors were able to determine the best treatment for his erratic heartbeat.

Bradley was diagnosed with a heart tumour at the age of  three. He has undergone several open heart surgery procedures and recently underwent another procedure to stop the electrical interference caused by the large cardiac tumour.

Dr Michael Taylor, director of advanced imaging at The Heart Institute, and his team contacted Materialise to create a 3D-printed replica of Bradley’s heart using the Mimics Innovation Suite software from his CT scan data. This  3D-printed HeartPrint model allowed doctors to better understand the complex relationship of the tumour, printed in a hard opaque material, and surrounding anatomical structures printed in a flexible transparent material. Having the model enabled the team to confidently proceed with an electrophysiology study and catheter ablation over a risky surgical resection of the tumour.

The model also allowed Bradley and his family to better understand his unique anatomy.  “I always thought my tumour was the size of a quarter and didn’t realize how large it was until I saw the [Materialise] model. It’s one of the coolest things I’ve seen by far. I’m looking forward to showing my friends,” said Bradley.

“I think 3D Printing will clinically take us to the next generation of imaging. This is our future,” said Dr David Morales, cardiothoracic surgeon at Cincinnati Children’s Hospital.