3D Printing. Bringing new dimensions to advanced visualization A FEATURED EBOOK

Transcription

1 A FEATURED EBOOK 3D Printing Bringing new dimensions to advanced visualization A 3D Printing

2 CONTENTS What is 3D Printing? Obstacles to Widespread Adoption Voxels to Vectors Printers and Materials How Can We Help Printing with TeraRecon 3D Printing 2

3 What is 3D Printing? INTRODUCTION For over 30 years, 3D printing has been available for industrial applications and prototyping. 3D printing is the process of creating a physical object from data using a special printer that creates an object one layer at a time. Data for printing can be created using a drawing application, or it can come from scanning device such as a 3D optical scanning device, a CT scan or MRI. As it continues to grow in popularity in healthcare, clinicians, health systems, and vendors alike are all trying to understand how to best utilize and implement the technology in their roadmaps. Medical uses of 3D printing include education, surgical planning and practice, patient communication & education, and prosthesis testing. For example, 3D prints of a jaw allow dental students to practice technique without using cadavers. Communication and medical training are one of the largest areas for 3D printing. Though there are many barriers to implementing and cost justifying the adoption of 3D printing, it will be personalized Health Care and improved patient outcomes that pushes this technology over the finish line and into mainstream practice. The more we understand the challenges with 3D printing faced by end users, the easier it will be to determine most accessible and affordable way forward. In this ebook, we ll discuss barriers to entry, the different components important for high quality 3D printing outcomes, and new technologies available to those who are ready to jump in. 3 3D Printing

4 Obstacles to Widespread Adoption Expensive 3D printing hardware, complex secondary segmentation and printer specific software and the need for professional services assistance have slowed the adoption of 3D printing in healthcare. As with any disruptive technology it takes simplification to achieve widespread acceptance. The FDA has cleared more than 85 devices associated with 3D printing and with countless universities rushing to provide printing service for varying use cases, we are still sitting at the bottom of the growth curve for 3D printing and realizing its full potential because these initial barriers have not been overcome. The push to create Centralized 3D Printing labs has raised the visibility and access to the next step, but never solved the initial challenges. Many clinicians and healthcare organizations are eager to embrace the technology and are discovering many high impact opportunities to utilize 3D printing in patient care. Unfortunately, they find themselves faced with printers costing anywhere from tens of thousands and up to a million dollars. Typically, any one printer provides only one type of output so a true 3D printing lab would require multiple printers. Add in material costs, highly skilled employees to support not only the rendering but also the manufacturing of models, as well as downtime considerations and organizations find themselves facing a giant. With the potential of millions of dollars invested, several hours of preparation for each study and the fact that models still come off a printer one at a time, the cost per model is astronomical. As an alternative, third party print houses have made themselves available to take patient studies and generate models for less cost but limitations still exist in the use of low quality file types, such as STL and the inability to retain the resolution needed for intricate anatomical models. 3D Printing 4

5 Voxels to Vectors Data from a CT or MRI scan creates a 3D volume (voxels). A Voxel is a 3-dimensional pixel that records a value for each very small cube of the object being scanned. The DICOM format is an example of voxel data. In medicine, each voxel represents a small piece of the anatomy scanned. 3D Printers don t work with voxels, instead they use vector shapes, or polygons. The polygons are used to guide the print head and can contain texture and color information. In order to use DICOM for 3D printing, the file must be converted to polygons. The most commonly used file format in 3D printing today is STeroLithography or also known as Standard Triangle Language (STL). Unfortunately, the STL file format is quite limited and creates problems at both ends of the resolution spectrum: Lowresolution results in triangles in your STL file that are big and the surface of your model will not be smooth. It will lead to a pixelated print. A file with a resolution that is too high will make your file too big, larger than 10GB per model, and sometimes impossible for networks and print servers to handle. STL does not support multicolor or detailed textures. STL = Loss of quality, single color, surface only 5 3D Printing

6 Printers and Materials The finish you want, the texture and the quality of your print will determine the printer that should be used. There are 7 current techniques applied today, with the five main methods described here: Fused Deposition Modeling (FDM) the object is created by extruding a molten material from a print head, layer by layer, which solidifies immediately. FDM is popular, but typically monochromatic and low resolution. This is good for thermoplastic models with good mechanical qualities. Stereo Lithography Apparatus (SLA) SLA is similar to FDM, except that, layers of liquid resin are hardened using an ultraviolet (UV) laser. SLA is good for industrial uses. The choice of material can affect cost, resolution, durability, aesthetics, and other characteristics of a 3D model. Available materials include: plastic, polymer, ceramics, glass, metals, and paper among others. Other considerations are hardness of the material, colorization and the detailed finish of your model. One of the most important variables is the size of your printed model. Some materials are more suitable for smaller objects than large ones. Many off the shelf printers cannot print objects larger than 8x8x8 inches. All of these choices will affect the cost of the final print and cost is often quoted per cubic inch of the final object. Multi-Jet Printing (MJP) similar to an inkjet printer, MJP uses a piezo print head to deposit resin or wax in layers. MJP provides fine detail and is used for parts, patterns and casting molds. Selective Laser Sintering (SLS) SLS uses a laser to sinter or fuse layers of a powdered material (plastic, glass, ceramic, metal). SLS is excellent for titanium prostheses. The best way to predict the future is to create it. ~ Peter Drucker ColorJet Printing (CJP) consists of two major components the core material in powder form and full-color binder. Rendered on a build platform, thin micron layers of the core material are spread one layer at a time followed by the full-color binder which solidifies the materials. The results are full-color three-dimensional models. 3D Printing 6

7 How Can We Help Think Amazon and how it changed the way you search and transact for virtually any purchase you may make. We have now reached a point where the high initial investments and complexities can be overcome by using a similar E-Commerce methodology to give widespread access to highly accurate multicolor and multi material 3D Printed Models. At the core of this solution is the idea that what you see is what you get WYSIWYG, and allowing the medical professionals to use their existing tools for rendering and segmentation that are already part of the diagnostic imaging process. There should be no need for conversion to an STL file with reduced resolution, complex masking and other associated limitations. TeraRecon, a leader in Medical Advanced Visualization in partnership with WhiteClouds, a global leader in 3D Model printing is delivering non-diagnostic color sandstone models of remarkable quality using such a straight-toprint solution today. This partnership is just one example of the commitment to improve the quality of care provided around the world by both companies. 7 3D Printing

8 Printing with TeraRecon 3D PRINT PACKS Printing your model is easier than ever. Every TeraRecon system houses a feature that allows the user to print directly from their existing workflow. It provides you a way to print full-color 3D models without the need for a printer, any 3rd party software, and it avoids the use of giant, inefficient STL files. Additionally, TeraRecon offers services (3D model image segmentation and pre-production print design) that can support you if you have complicated or specific needs to create printable models. If your model is not printable due to sub-optimal segmentation, help from our professional services team is available to optimize your model. Perhaps there are artifacts from scanning that you don t want in the finished model, perhaps you d like to highlight complicated structures or add missing structures or, you may want to consolidate several models into one printable one. By leveraging the expertise of TeraRecon and WhiteClouds, the obstacles previously limiting your options for printed models quickly disappear. TeraRecon 3D Print Packs leverage a credits based model and allow for: Dramatically improved workflow compared to an in-house printing program, with zero start-up costs What you see is what you get, straight from the TeraRecon system with no need for editing Strikingly high-resolution, full-color models through and through - never painted! Immediate access to experienced experts in 3D model image segmentation and pre-production print design Working with TeraRecon Strategy Implementation Rollout Optimization Turnkey Define your goals and a unified vision for the future. Utilize best practices and proven methodology. Ensure adoption and support across the enterprise. Get the most out of your technology investment. Save time and money with pre-packaged solutions. TeraRecon, interact+, Viewer First, Morphable Viewer, Componentized PACS, AquariusNet, intuition, Aquarius, Aquarius Workstation, Overlay PACS Viewing, and VolumePro are either registered trademarks or trademarks of TeraRecon, Inc. in the United States and/or other countries AQ-B/3D-PRINTING-A2 3D Printing 8