A Clear Mind

Brain surgery is, as you might expect, difficult. Brain scans – images that reveal the structures inside our skulls – have been used to pinpoint problems and plan surgery for decades, but flat, monochromatic images can only tell you so much. 3D printing technology allows a different type of visualisation, and a new study has examined the production process to test whether patient-specific models can be rapidly produced to better prepare surgeons. The study produced transparent models, with key anatomical features coloured (pictured, with a tumour shown red alongside other highlighted structures). The models’ soft, brain-like texture let neurosurgeons simulate procedures before taking to the real thing. Printing could be done in four days and proved valuable in ten simulated clinical situations, particularly to surgeons with less experience. This rapid production could be embedded into common practice for neurosurgery, to help make brain surgery a little less daunting.

Written by Anthony Lewis

Anthony Lewis

Writer

Ant was the web editor in the early days of BPoD, and has since worked with the UK’s top science organisations as a writer and multimedia producer. He now splits his time between freelance work and managing multimedia at The Lancet.

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• Image from work by Yun-Sik Dho and colleagues
• Seoul National University Hospital, Seoul, Republic of Korea
• Image originally published with a Creative Commons Attribution 4.0 International (CC BY 4.0)
• Published in Scientific Reports, March 2021