The first 3D printed multiple sclerosis brain: Towards a 3D era in medicine

Conventional magnetic resonance imaging (MRI) studies depict disease of the human brain in 2D but the reconstruction of a patient’s brain stricken with multiple sclerosis (MS) in 3D using 2D images has not been attempted. Using 3D reconstruction algorithms, we built a 3D printed patient-specific brain model to scale. It is a first of its kind model that depicts the total white matter lesion (WML) load using T2 FLAIR images in an MS patient. The patient’s images in Digital Imaging and Communications in Medicine (DICOM) format were imported into Mimics inPrint 2.0 (Materialise NV, Leuven, Belgium) a dedicated medical image processing software designed for the purposes of image segmentation and 3D modeling. The imported axial images were automatically formatted to display coronal and sagittal slices within the software. The imaging data were then segmented into regions and surface rendering was done to achieve 3D virtual printable files of the desired structures of interest. Rendering brain tumor(s) in 3D has been attempted with the specific intent of extending the options available to a surgeon but no study to our knowledge has attempted to quantify brain disease in MS that has, for all practical purposes, no surgical options. The purpose of our study was to demonstrate that 3D depiction of chronic neurological diseases is possible in a printable model while serving a fundamental need for patient education. Medical teaching is moored in 2D graphics and it is time to evolve into 3D models that can be life-like and deliver instant impact.