Purpose or Case Report: Medical 3D printing is an ever-changing method of medical advancements, including a growing space for developing custom training tools (phantoms). Phantoms have enhanced pediatric medicine, offering improved training, planning, and educational tools tailored to specific patients. This abstract evaluated and explored the application of radio-programmable 3D printing material, RadioMatrix, under both X-ray and CT scans.
Methods & Materials: RadioMatrix and TissueMatrix are radio-programmable materials released by Stratasys (Eden Prairie, MN). They claim to print materials with a range of HU of -300 to 1000. This allows the designing and printing of custom phantoms for computed tomography, fluoroscopy, and x-ray. To test this material, we evaluated these claims in three ways: dimensional accuracy, radiopacity, and side-by-side comparison with true patient imaging.
To test each, several models were created: a 25mm cube in various blends of RadioMatrix, TissueMatrix, and VeroWhite plastic, a stairstep of 10 mm by 30 mm, and 15 mm with incremental blends of RadioMatrix and VeroWhite, and several extremities with defined regions for bone, muscle, and soft tissue.
The models were imaged under fluoroscopy (Siemens Luminos Agile) and CT (Siemens Somatom Definition Flash; Extremity Protocol; slice thickness: 0.62 Kvp:100). The Visage and Materialise Mimics were used to evaluate the linear accuracy (x,y, and z) and HU replication and range. A technologist and radiologist were asked to review the extremities for general impression and comparison to clinical scans.
Results: The cubes and the stairstep had a dimensional accuracy of ± 0.2mm. The stairstep ranged from 251 to 974 HU, with a variation within each step of 80.33 HU. The wrist model had a bone region of 930.7 HU (SD: 129.16) and a soft tissue region of -50.24 HU (SD: 27.17). The forearm had a bone region of 883 HU, with the distinction of the muscle (38 HU) within the soft tissue (113 HU).
The radiologist shared a positive impression of the model scans, noting the ability to see a fracture in the wrist model and the overall comparability to the clinical scans.
Conclusions: This preliminary exploration of the new material offers support for its claims and the ability to utilize it in the development of education tools, including custom or patient-match phantoms to be created for education and clinical care. Our team looks to explore these specific projects further for development as the next steps.