Sometimes Work Is Pretty Rewarding

How long is that going to take on the 3D?

Alex - it took me maybe half-an-hour to set-up the print in the software (build orientation/support settings) and just over six hours to print. I just came in for two hours last night to set up the printer, set up the print, and stuck around for awhile to make sure everything started OK. This morning I'm going to remove the print from the build platform, remove the support structures, clean the part in IPA, hit it with a bit of UV light to properly cure it, sand off any remaining support nubs, then hit it with a few coats of clear coat.

The entire process was - patient had CT scan early yesterday morning, Dr. notified my buddy Keith of the issue and sends him CT scans, Keith sends CT scans to my buddy Lawrence who cleans them up in either Solidworks or 3Matic (which took him most of yesterday) and saves as an .stl file, Lawrence E-mails me the .stl file and I print the part.

Righ on Dustin thanks for taking the time to share the time process with your work. I know the company i work for sales 3d printers but don't know how well there doing on sales. I was one  of the techs chosen to be trained but never happen. So they put me in a class to learn how to work on the K5 security robots that you might of heard about or seen at malls.
I hope you could catch up on your rest 

So, I made three of the aortas.We took one and deployed the stent combination that would most likely be used in this situation and it was definitely not the best way to proceed. I just got back from lunch, but it looks like they have figured out a way to get optimal coverage of the AAA using a combo of devices that are seldom used together. A combo that WAY more than likely would not have been the first option used.

I think every critical surgical operation should be "practiced" this way whenever possible. The technology has been around for decades, but doctors and hospitals are just now starting to use anatomy models to do practice runs.

I am curious about the process. Is the printer capable of replicating the internal lumen diameter of the vascaluture and the vessel wall thickness to scale or do you scale it up to print it?

The printer will print whatever the .stl file tells it to.

The CT scan that the doctor took of the patient's anatomy was converted 1:1 into an .stl file through second party software (3matics). That .stl file is then loaded into the printer and the printer prints what is on the file.

The software that comes with the desktop printers I have is pretty basic. I can re-size the whole part as an entire object only, ie; I can make the whole part bigger or smaller while maintaining its original aspect ratio, but I can't adjust single aspects of a model such as wall thickness, etc.

The software also lets me orient the model, place supports on the model, and position the model on the build platform...but that's pretty much it.

I am curious about the process. Is the printer capable of replicating the internal lumen diameter of the vascaluture and the vessel wall thickness to scale or do you scale it up to print it?

I think I originally misunderstood what you were asking.

Yes, the printer is capable of printing the vasculature as is, but all I am printing is the main body of the aorta, not all of the support vessels.

Can you take any pics of the final product?

Can you take any pics of the final product?

I meant to take pics of the whole procedure, but I forgot my camera and my phone today. 

I'll see if I can dig up an older one I printed and if not then I'll get pics of the next one I print.

BTW - The Form2 desktop printer I use is only like $3400. Pretty sure they've paid for themselves here within the first three weeks of us owning them.

Can you take any pics of the final product?

I meant to take pics of the whole procedure, but I forgot my camera and my phone today. 

Kind of like not even owning a cellphone eh? 

Hey Dustin...what type of media are they using for the 3D?
sorry for allthe Q: but I'm the curious one

Super cool, Dustin!!!


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Hey Dustin...what type of media are they using for the 3D?
sorry for allthe Q: but I'm the curious one

Alex - it's an SLA machine so it uses a liquid resin that is cured by a high intensity UV "laser".

Check 'em out.
https://formlabs.com/

Good work bro. I'm having a cat scan on my aortic aneurysm tomorrow morning. That would be sic if you make the part that will save my life when the time comes. They have been monitoring its size for three years. It's 47 mm last time it was measured a year ago. You are so bad ass Dustin.  Love you man.

Super duper cool...love hearing these stories of using additive manufacturing for truly important uses....if it is OK with you I'd like to pass along the first post to my coworkers (even though you aren't using our products) to remind folks that what we do here really is having an impact?

Super duper cool...love hearing these stories of using additive manufacturing for truly important uses....if it is OK with you I'd like to pass along the first post to my coworkers (even though you aren't using our products) to remind folks that what we do here really is having an impact?

No problem, Steve! Where do you work, if you don't mind me asking?

I do a lot of work with Stratasys and Protolabs, and some of my colleagues have connections at Fathom.

Good work bro. I'm having a cat scan on my aortic aneurysm tomorrow morning. That would be sic if you make the part that will save my life when the time comes. They have been monitoring its size for three years. It's 47 mm last time it was measured a year ago. You are so bad ass Dustin.  Love you man.

Love you, too, my man!

How did they discover your AAA? Please let us know how your scans come out.

My dad just recently had one of our stent grafts placed. It was an Endurant stent graft that we used to manufacture here in Santa Rosa (it's now manufactured in Galway, Ireland) and back when I first transferred to the Endovascular division I helped with a little bit of the R&D work on the suprarenal stent (Anchors) of that device. Pretty cool.