Creating 3d Printed Models Of A Cadaveric Axillary Vein

In recent years, 3D modeling and 3D printing of vasculature has become a topic of interest in medicine. 3D protocols have been used for preoperative planning in vascular surgeries to simplify complicated procedures. The goal of this study is to visualize internal anatomy of the axillary vein based on micro computed tomography (micro-CT) imaging and 3D printing. A high-resolution X-ray instrument (Skyscan 1173) was used to create images of an axillary vein and to make 3D models.Two approaches for 3D printing were compared; a full vein that showed the exterior surface of the vein and a vein cut in half longitudinally that showed the interior surface of the vein. Both of these models were able to replicate the original vein structure. An axillary vein was dissected from a cadaver. Upon removing the sample from the cadaver, one side of the vein was sutured shut and was filled with MICROFIL MV-122 contrast resin. A micro-CT scan was recreated using standard micro-CT protocols. A surface mesh was then created from the 3D model and exported in the .stl format. Two variations of the cadaveric vein models were printed – one of the whole vessel using FormLab 2 printer and Clear resin filament and another of two longitudinally-split halves in the vessel that were printed on the Stratasys Dimension Sst 1200es Printer with ABS plastic filaments. The later variant utilized dissolvable “support,” which helped visualization of the lumen. The two models that we printed, the full model and the model split into halves, were successful in showing the geometry outside and inside of the cadaveric sample of the axillary vein. The model split into halves was successfully printed without the support. This study featured the creation of a 3D mesh and printout using micro-CT and the Dragonfly 4.1. Based on the pictures below (Fig), we were able to accurately replicate the inside of the cadaveric sample using a 3D printed model. In the future, our models have the potential to aid visualization of venous pathologies in a clinical setting.