Three-Dimensional Printing Technology For Treatment Of Intracranial Aneurysms

Objective: To explore the materials and methods of fabricating 3D printed individual aneurysm model and its value in the treatment of intracranial aneurysms.Methods: 24 patients with intracranial aneurysm diagnosed by CTA who had undergone operation in our hospital were analyzed retrospectively. CTA Data collected at the time of surgery was used for reconstruction. Soft Mimics 17.0 was used to reconstruct the thin layer CTA scan data into 3D image and the final data was sent to the 3D printer for fabricating the model. We compared the proposed 3D printed model-based preoperative plan and the actual approach used in the surgery based on CTA data, to evaluate the value of the 3D printed model in preoperative planning, and picked out the materials which were more suitable for the clinic.Results: 24 aneurysm models with high degree of reality were fabricated successfully with 3D-printing technology. The patients' blood vessel, skull and aneurysm were printed into the reality model at a ratio of 1:1. It is reported that the soft material-based, 3D printed vascular and aneurysm model more closely resembled the characteristics of the real blood vessels, thus provides a better simulation compared to the plaster-based model. Compared with the original operation plan, 3D printed model could be used for pre-operative aneurysm clip selection, and provide more intuitive information in selection of operational approach.Conclusions: 3D printed model can show the relationship between skull, intracranial vessels and aneurysm at 1:1 ratio of the anatomic structure. Compared with the traditional 2D imaging methods, it increases observation angle in the anatomy relationship between aneurysm, parent artery and the skull. 3D printed model can be used as an operational physical model to design operative schemes, choose the best operative paths and select suitable aneurysm clips by its high simulation degree and individualized characteristics. The model is helpful for surgical planning, especially for the preoperative plan of treating refractory multiple aneurysms and giant aneurysm.