How 3D printed babies are helping train doctors

Ben Redwood, 3D Hubs, explains how Eindhoven’s University of Technology has developed a new neonatal training technique with help from 3D Hubs.

Eindhoven’s University of Technology is home to PhD candidate and Healthcare Flagship Program participant, Mark Thielen, who is aiming to increase surgical and procedural success for neonatal patients. Using 3D printing and 3D Hubs, Thielen has developed an optimised training experience using lifelike newborn models with functional organs capable of intelligent sensor feedback.

For surgeons and nurses, interacting with anatomical models is important to the success of surgeries and medical procedures. Within the neonatal field, it’s incredibly difficult to practice correctly with the current state of practice mannequins which lack the complexity and feel of a newborn patient. Thielen’s research is to develop mannequins which have all their major internal organs functioning and equipped with sensors to monitor key measurements such as pressure, stress and impact during trial procedures (eg CPR, intubation).

3D printing is utilised because of the vast materials available for testing and, most importantly, the organic shapes the technology is able to create. There are two key components to the mannequin: The ribcage/spine, which acts as the housing for the second component, the internal organs. The sheer complexity of human anatomy is very hard to recreate realistically with any other production method as well as increased cost and lead times.

Testing was initially done with various thermoplastic elastomers on a desktop FDM 3D printer to create the larger parts of the model such as the rib cage. After finalising on a design, Selective Laser Sintering (SLS) was used because of the accuracy and dimensional freedom the technology offers.

To create the functional organs material jetting 3D printing was used to create moulds. When compared with traditional manufacturing methods, 3D printed moulds allowed for rapid design changes. Material jetting also allowed the combination of materials (rigid and flexible plastics) when creating the moulds. A heart, for example, needed to have highly detailed working valves. Due to the extremely small sizes of neonatal organs, as well as their minuscule detail, the only way to create a mould for these parts was to 3D print them.

When the ribcage and organs are combined, Thielen runs a fluid through the mannequin with two cameras and sensors installed, giving feedback on every part of the model throughout various trial procedures.

Thielen’s research into the creation of hyper-realistic mannequins doesn’t stop at neonatal patients though, with there being potentially wider applications. He explained:

“I believe that developing and advancing what we started here can aid medical research in a broader scope. We could potentially create realistic patient models of other body parts to strengthen medical training for emergency procedures and pregnancies.”

This project was made possible by the D.search lab and Jasper Sterk who both have provided a great contribution to this work.

You can see some examples of the project's work here.