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AJNR - American Journal of Neuroradiology

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Stereolithographic Vascular Replicas from CT Scans: Choosing Treatment Strategies, Teaching, and Research from Live Patient Scan Data

Kimberly Knox^a, Charles W. Kerber^a, Soren A. Singel^a, Michael J. Bailey^a and Steven G. Imbesi^a

^a From the Department of Radiology, University of California at San Diego Medical Center, San Diego, CA

View larger version (31K): [in a new window]   FIG 1. Patient 1. Vitrea workstation reconstruction of right common carotid bifurcation. The high-grade stenosis and multiple proximal complex ulcerations in the bulb are evident.

View larger version (69K): [in a new window]   FIG 2. After reconstruction of the study segment on the Z Corporation RP machine, the plaster-like reproduction of the vessel lumen was used to make a master mold. Here the mold has been opened, revealing the wax model that reproduces the complex configuration and size of the original.

View larger version (29K): [in a new window]   FIG 3. Silicon replica made by the lost-wax technique. This replica was then used to study the flow dynamics of this patient by placing it in a neck phantom and perfusing non-Newtonian fluids while injecting isobaric dyes into the slipstreams (not shown here). The replica was next placed into the scanner, the fluid in the phantom was made isoattenuated to the silicon with contrast agent, and the entire phantom was scanned by using the same scan parameters as were used to scan the patient.

View larger version (26K): [in a new window]   FIG 4. Workstation 3D reproduction of the CT angiogram made from the replica. These images were then compared with the images in Figure 1. Although there was some slight change in dimensions, and modest smoothing became evident, the overall appearance remained similar.

View larger version (35K): [in a new window]   FIG 5. CT angiogram reconstructed on the Vitrea workstation shows the abdominal aortic aneurysm in patient 3.

View larger version (24K): [in a new window]   FIG 6. Molded wax replica created from his CT angiographic data.