Echocardiography and 3D printing: cardiac models for the education of dog owners

Three-dimensional (3D) printing is a new method for creating human and veterinary anatomical models, which makes the education of students and professionals in the health area more complete, in addition to helping the patients themselves understand. In the area of ​​cardiology, this technique can efficiently help the assessment of cardiac alterations for the patient during medical consultations, tying a feeling of involvement with the medical team. Likewise, it is possible to use 3D printing to understand the echocardiographic technique, where conceptual knowledge of the anatomy of the heart and the ability to translate a two-dimensional ultrasound image into a 3D idea is required. This research aimed to develop printable 3D cardiac models, to demonstrate cardiac sections used in echocardiography and use them to teach dog owners, evaluating their suitability as a tool for a better understanding of the echocardiographic exam. The 3D cardiac models were validated by dog owners through an evaluation questionnaire prepared on a Likert scale, after monitoring the echocardiographic examination with an explanation by the echocardiographer using the printed models. A total of 30 dog owners participated in the study. In all seven questions of the questionnaire, the vast majority of positive responses were observed, with partial or total agreement by the participants. These results showed that the use of 3D printed models is effective in improving the understanding of the echocardiographic examination and is feasible in the daily workflow

Additive manufacturing of customized lower limb orthoses – A review

Additive manufacturing (AM) has been successfully applied in the healthcare and shows potential for modernization of lower limb orthoses manufacturing process. This study aims to analyze the scientific production of AM application in customized lower limb orthoses production (foot and ankle-foot orthoses) to identify possible research gaps. To reach the proposed objective, a systematic literature review was carried out, based on the construction of a bibliographic portfolio, a bibliometric study and on article content analysis. Some study gaps were identified as the cost of the 3D digitalizing and the additive manufacturing process employed. This review will be the basis for the development of research on the application of low cost 3D digitizing and 3D printing technologies in the development of lower limb orthoses

Elastomers three-dimensional biomodels proven to be a trustworthy representation of the angiotomographic images

ABSTRACT Intracranial aneurysm (IA) rupture is responsible for 80% of spontaneous arachnoid hemorrhages and associated with an extremely high mortality rate. Two possible surgical interventions are endovascular embolization and microsurgical clipping. Three-dimensional (3D) prototyping models help in surgical planning minimizing perioperative risks in both methods and reducing operating time. Methods 3D biomodels were printed with flexible material (elastomer) using angiotomographic DICOM acquired images and compared to 3D digital subtraction angiography (DSA) images. Results 3D biomodels represented the aneurysm angioarchitecture exactly, especially the neck and domus features. Conclusion Elastomers 3D biomodels proved to be a trustworthy representation of the angiotomographic images and could be used to help surgical planning in IA treatment

Escaneo tridimensional de objetos a través de materiales transparentes

This study aimed at understanding the behavior of the 3D scanning by structured infrared light when scanning objects that are behind transparent materials. The following questions were addressed: What are the errors found on the surface generated by 3D scanning through several transparent materials? Is it feasible to use the data gathered to collect anthropometric measurements? To answer these questions an experiment was carried out in which the same object was scanned through different transparent surfaces in different situations. As a result, four types of errors were found in the scan: occlusion, superficial quality, closure and reflection. Furthermore, it was also possible to prove the usability of these surfaces for taking anthropometric measurements of large and medium body parts as defined by ISO 20685:2010.Este estudo objetivou compreender o comportamento do escaneamento 3D por luz infravermelha estruturada, ao digitalizar objetos que estão atrás de materiais transparentes. Problematizam-se as seguintes questões: Quais os erros encontrados em superfície gerada por escaneamento 3D através de diversos materiais transparentes? É viável a utilização desses dados para coleta de medidas? Para responder a essas perguntas realizou-se um experimento no qual se digitalizou um mesmo objeto através de diferentes superfícies transparentes em diferentes situações. Como resultados foram encontrados quatro tipos de erros no escaneamento: oclusão, qualidade superficial, fechamento e reflexo. Além disso também foi possível comprovar a usabilidade dessas superfícies digitalizadas na realização de medidas antropométricas de grandes e médias partes do corpo, conforme definido pela ISO 20685:2010.Este estudio tuvo como objetivo comprender el comportamiento del escaneo 3D mediante luz infrarroja estructurada al escanear objetos que están detrás de materiales transparentes. Se hicieron las siguientes preguntas: ¿Cuáles son los errores encontrados en la superficie generada por el escaneo 3D a través de varios materiales transparentes? ¿Es factible utilizar estos datos para recopilar mediciones? Para responder a estas preguntas, se realizó un experimento en el que se escaneó el mismo objeto a través de diferentes superficies transparentes en diferentes situaciones. Como resultado, se encontraron cuatro tipos de errores: oclusión, calidad de la superficie, cierre y reflejo. Además, también fue posible probar la usabilidad de estas superficies digitalizadas al realizar mediciones antropométricas de partes del cuerpo grandes y medianas según la definición de ISO 20685:2010