Effective patient engagement is vital to helping patients cope with their medical condition. However, should the patient require an operation of great complexity, such as having a brain tumor removed, they can experience confusion when talking things through with their neurosurgeon.
Ultimaker, a 3D printer manufacturer, is helping pave the way for improved doctor-patient communication and healthcare procedures by producing 3D printed models of MRI and CT brain scans. Reading 2D MRI and CT scans is typically difficult for patients to understand and doctors to explain. REshape, a program set up by the Radboud University Medical Center in the Netherlands, aims to empower patients to take control of and better understand their condition.
3D Printing Brain Tumors
Reshape Project Leader David Grim uses Ultimaker to produce models of patients’ brain tumors. The 3D models help patients visualize their condition and doctors explain the shape, size and location of a patient’s tumor in relation to where it sits in the brain. Patients now have the ability to see and touch a model of their tumor and its surrounding tissue, allowing them to better select and understand treatment options and procedures.
Grim produces models using the data from MRI and CT scans with Ultimaker’s 3D printers since their high-end design and quality make them easy for both the hospital’s technology lab and doctors to use. The process using the 3D printers is inexpensive and pragmatic, making it the best choice for Radboud to use in its REshape program.
“We are honored that our 3D printers are being used to improve the communication between patient and doctor at Radboud University Medical Center,” says Siert Wijnia, founder and CTO of Ultimaker. “As 3D printing becomes more popular and cost efficient we have seen a growing trend of our printers being utilized in a number of different fields and professions. It is exciting for Ultimaker to be able help improving patients’ understandings of their health and act as a tool for doctors to communicate treatment options with patients and their loved ones.”
