Converting Volumetric Scan Data to 3D Prints
The tissues in our bodies are volumetric, and modern scanning technology (CT, MRI, ect) produces volumetric datasets. Yet, most data is visualized in 2D cut planes through this dataset, requiring practitioners to reconstruct the 3D geometry in their minds.
I wrote a software tool with a graphical user interface for importing volumetric medical data and creating custom, interactive, nonlinear mappings between scalar intensity/density data fields and CMKY colorspace, as well as export of fabrication-ready design files.
slices through a CT scan
3D print of scan geometry
I packaged the code into an easy-to-use Matlab application with a graphical user interface. My code features volumetric interpolation and smoothing, and GPU-parallelized layerwise dithering to reduce export time of highly detailed ( > 1B voxel) design files.
I used the tool to physically realize scale models of human anatomy for visualization and presurgical planning. In a collaboration with Children’s Hospital of Colorado, I printed a 1:1 scale model of a child’s deformed ear canal that was used by surgeons assessing surgical access to the cochlea, leading to a successful surgery.
This code is open-source and hosted on the MACLab Github page, where I worked during this research.
