Aorta CT angiography (CTA) is currently the reference method in preoperative assessment of aortic aneurysm and dissection. Further, CTA is commonly used to follow-up patients treated with endovascular stent grafts. Therefore, regular CTA follow-ups of these patients at 3, 6 and 12 months, yearly thereafter contribute to cumulative radiation dose, which raises serious concerns due to radiation-induced malignancy. Dose optimization is clinically important to these patients receiving multiple CT scans. "3D printed aortic models with Visijet CE-NT material give the appearance of translucent light yellow allowing its use for education purpose, in addition to its reported value in guiding complex aortic surgery or endovascular aortic repair," says Prof. Sun. He also added "printing aortic dissection models is very challenging compared to other cardiovascular models due to very thin membranous structure of the intimal flap." The CTA images used in this study represented nice anatomical structures including intimal flap which were segmented and printed without any difficulty. This confirms the importance of quality of source images to guarantee printing high-quality models.

Prof. Sun's team is continuing to work on printing more anatomical structures including ribs, thoracic vertebrae, soft tissues, lungs and heart which allows for simulation of more realistic environment. "The phantom should be improved to mimic the in vivo circumstance and this allows for investigation of optimal aorta CT scanning protocols for detection of aortic dissection," says Prof. Sun.

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