“We start by creating a patient-specific 3-D model of an aneurysm. Next, we print it using a biologically accurate material that simulates the properties of the aortic wall, and then we mount it on a hemodynamic simulator, subjecting it to such tightly controlled hemodynamic parameters as intraluminal pressures, blood flows, and cardiac outputs,” Chandra told MPMN. As different hemodynamic and material properties change and stable aneurysms begin to fail, the researchers can study aneurysm behavior.

3D printing technology will enable many aortic devices to be tested in an ex vivo environment, Chandra added, allowing medical researchers to observe how the devices behave.

Read "New Dimension to 3D Printing: Modeling Aneurysms" for more about this technology.

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— Norbert Sparrow