Utilisation of three-dimensional printed heart models for operative planning of complex congenital heart defects.

BACKGROUND AND AIM: To evaluate the accuracy of the three-dimensional (3D) printing of cardiovascular structures. To explore whether utilisation of 3D printed heart replicas can improve surgical and catheter interventional planning in patients with complex congenital heart defects. METHODS: Between December 2014 and November 2015 we fabricated eight cardiovascular models based on computed tomography data in patients with complex spatial anatomical relationships of cardiovascular structures. A Bland-Altman analysis was used to assess the accuracy of 3D printing by comparing dimension measurements at analogous anatomical locations between the printed models and digital imagery data, as well as between printed models and in vivo surgical findings. The contribution of 3D printed heart models for perioperative planning improvement was evaluated in the four most representative patients. RESULTS: Bland-Altman analysis confirmed the high accuracy of 3D cardiovascular printing. Each printed model offered an improved spatial anatomical orientation of cardiovascular structures. CONCLUSIONS: Current 3D printers can produce authentic copies of patients` cardiovascular systems from computed tomography data. The use of 3D printed models can facilitate surgical or catheter interventional procedures in patients with complex congenital heart defects due to better preoperative planning and intraoperative orientation.

Our experience with smartphone and spherical lens for the eye fundus examination during humanitarian project in Africa.

To present the experience of eye fundus photo documentation by using the plus 20 diopters spherical Volk lens and a smartphone with 4.2 Mpix camera and LED flash within the screening project of eye disorders in countries where the standard ophthalmology equipment is not available. Totally 241 patients underwent ophthalmology screening examination. The documentation of the eye fundus included patients with Burkitt lymphoma, Kala Azar, malnutrition with unknown etiology, tuberculosis, HIV positive patients, Usher syndrome and hypertension. This technique as an alternative way of screening will become a standard within examination of patients with eye disorders in outfield regions of developing countries.

Early experiences of planning stereotactic radiosurgery using 3D printed models of eyes with uveal melanomas.

OBJECTIVE: The objective of this study was to determine the use of 3D printed model of an eye with intraocular tumor for linear accelerator-based stereotactic radiosurgery. METHODS: The software for segmentation (3D Slicer) created virtual 3D model of eye globe with tumorous mass based on tissue density from computed tomography and magnetic resonance imaging data. A virtual model was then processed in the slicing software (Simplify3D®) and printed on 3D printer using fused deposition modeling technology. The material that was used for printing was polylactic acid. RESULTS: In 2015, stereotactic planning scheme was optimized with the help of 3D printed model of the patient's eye with intraocular tumor. In the period 2001-2015, a group of 150 patients with uveal melanoma (139 choroidal melanoma and 11 ciliary body melanoma) were treated. The median tumor volume was 0.5 cm3 (0.2-1.6 cm3). The radiation dose was 35.0 Gy by 99% of dose volume histogram. CONCLUSION: The 3D printed model of eye with tumor was helpful in planning the process to achieve the optimal scheme for irradiation which requires high accuracy of defining the targeted tumor mass and critical structures.