Research looks at lifelike organ models produced on 3D printers

A research project recently launched at Karl Landsteiner University of Health Sciences that focuses on the 3D printing of tissue models, aims to produce organ models with realistic material properties.

The aim is to utilise the biological replicas in research and medical training, which will help to reduce the use of valuable donor organs and enable physicians to practise complex surgical procedures.

The initial stage of the project involves in-depth analysis of material and organ properties. The data generated will provide "recipes" for 3D printers, which will then produce materials with the requisite properties on demand.

There is a large demand for realistic organs for Doctors and other medical professionals to train and practise with. Large numbers of donor organs are normally used for training purposes, but they can only be used once for a short time and show a huge variability.

A team headed by Prof. Dieter Pahr of the Department of Anatomy and Biomechanics at Karl Landsteiner University of Health Sciences has now laid the foundations for innovative research on the topic.

3D printers are already used in day-to-day medical activities, including to create models of complex surgical situations. This enables doctors to gain a better appreciation of spatial properties, to try out new surgical instruments, and practise hand movements. However, such models lack the realistic characteristics of biological tissue.

As Prof. Pahr explains, "In order to lay the groundwork for improved 3D printing of medical models, we will first identify the biomechanical characteristics that have a decisive influence on how practitioners sense tissue and organ properties.”

Prof. Pahr continued, “We will then investigate what materials are suited to 3D printing, their attributes, and what lifelike tissue and organs can be printed." Based on this initial investigation, the team will then produce the first test prints using suitable 3D printing techniques.

This would represent a significant advance, which in turn would open the door for highly customised and realistic tissue and organ models for medical use. The combination of materials research, medical know-how and expertise in computer-model generation exemplifies the full scope of KL Krems’ research.