Neurosurgery
3D printing allows to faithfully replicate even the thin vessels characterizing the cerebral vascular system. Thanks to multi-material 3D printing technology it is possible to reproduce both morphological and mechanical vessels’ properties, enabling the simulation of complex surgical procedure and the choice of the most suitable instrumentation.
The 3D printed patient-specific model represents a case of cerebral artery aneurysm. The model has been used for the simulation of the left middle cerebral artery aneurysm clipping procedure at the bifurcation of M1 and M2, through left pterional craniotomy. The surgical procedure has been performed with intra-operative neurophysiological monitoring.
The aneurysm, its vascular proximal tract and the thrombus have been 3D printed in soft material with different degree of deformability to assure the best adherence with the physiological reality, enabling the simulation of the surgical approach directly on the model.