Researchers can use MRIs to print a model heart in 3 hours
Researchers at MIT and Boston Children's Hospital have developed a system that can take MRI scans of a patient's heart and, in just a few hours, convert them into a tangible, physical model that surgeons can use to plan surgery.
While creating 3D printed models of human organs and vasculature is not new, the speed with which the heart models can be produced using a new computer algorithm is unprecedented, according to the researchers.
The new procedure also increases the precision of MRI scans 10-fold, the researchers said. The modeling system was created by Medhi Moghari, a physicist at Boston Children's Hospital. Andrew Powell, a cardiologist at the hospital, led the project's clinical work.
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