Manipulation of volume data to manufacture vascular replicas.

There are three reasons to create physical replicas of human anatomy: (1) to be able to better visualize the shape of a single organ, or a section of anatomy; (2) to be able to visualize the spatial relationships in three-dimensions; and (3) to use accurate replicas to practice or rehearse otherwise high-risk clinical procedures in the laboratory. This paper describes a project to fabricate a carotid artery. It discusses the gathering of data, the conversion to a volume, and the subsequent conversion to a manufacturable form.