As a result of improved geometry freedom and individualisation, the 3D additive manufacturing moves in the scientific focus of medical applications, e.g. for the replication of blood vessels. Intracranial aneurysms are dilations of the brain vessel walls, which constitute a weak point of the vessel wall (see fig. A). The treatment of these aneurysms requires high experiences of the medical personnel and patient-specific planning needs.

Objectives

The development of three-dimensional accurate models of intracranial arteries and aneurysms is carried out in this project together with the Department of Diagnostic and Interventional Neuroradiology of the University Medical Center Hamburg-Eppendorf. Additive manufacturing is used for the fabrication of these models. These models (see fig. B) can be used for testing the device placement, the simulation of the aneurysm flow, the education of the medical personnel as well as patient-specific planning of the aneurysm treatment. 

      A: Model in CAD with aneurysm                           B: aneurysm model with coil      

Approach 

The 3D printings should feature a defined hollow vessel geometry, to achieve this goal the following steps are planned

• analysis of the state-of-the-art technologies
• analysis of the real medical vessel data and their configuration as well as the requirements for trainings with These models
• systematic Integration of additive manufacturing proesses in individualised development and design 

The project is founded by the Forschungszentrum Medizintechnik Hamburg (fmthh).

Project management: Prof. Dr.-Ing. D. Krause 

Project execution: Johanna Spallek, M.Sc.

Report on the Project ALSTER and the development of vascular models in the Hamburger Abendblatt on July 28, 2015

Download Project poster