3D-Printing the Brain’s Blood Vessels With Silicone Could Improve and Personalize Neurosurgery – New Technique Shows How

UF Innovate inventor, Thomas Angelini, an associate professor of mechanical and aerospace engineering, and Senthilkumar Duraivel, a Ph.D. candidate in materials science and engineering at UF’s Herbert Wertheim College of Engineering, recently published research into a new technique for creating a replica of the brain using 3D printing.

A new 3D-printing technique using silicone can make accurate models of the blood vessels in your brain, enabling neurosurgeons to train with more realistic simulations before they operate, according to their recently published research.

Many neurosurgeons practice each surgery before they get into the operating room based on models of what they know about the patient’s brain. But the current models neurosurgeons use for training don’t mimic real blood vessels well. They provide unrealistic tactile feedback, lack small but important structural details and often exclude entire anatomical components that determine how each procedure will be performed. Realistic and personalized replicas of patient brains during pre-surgery simulations could reduce error in real surgical procedures.

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