3D-Printed HeartPrint® Model Helps 16-Year-Old Heart Tumor Patient

September 16, 2014 — Materialise, a pioneer in 3D Printing for medical applications, recently created a 3D-printed heart model for doctors at Cincinnati Children’s Hospital to support Bradley White’s case, a 16-year-old boy who was born with a tumor. With the aid of Materialise’s HeartPrint® 3D-printed model, his doctors were able to determine the best treatment for Bradley’s erratic heartbeat.

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It’s devastating news when you find out that your grandchild was born with a heart tumor. This was the news that Christine White heard when her grandson Bradley was only three. Over the next several years, Bradley had to undergo several open heart surgeries including having a defibrillator implanted to protect him from sudden cardiac death. Recently, he found himself back at Cincinnati Children’s Hospital Medical Center for yet another procedure to stop the electrical interference caused by the large cardiac tumor.

Dr. Michael Taylor, Director of Advanced Imaging at The Heart Institute, and his team contacted Materialise to create a 3D-printed replica of Bradley’s heart using the Mimics Innovation Suite software from his CT scan data. This unique 3D-printed HeartPrint model allowed the physicians to better understand the complex relationship of the tumor, printed in a hard opaque material, and surrounding anatomical structures printed in a flexible transparent material. Having the model enabled the team to confidently proceed with an electrophysiology study and catheter ablation over a risky surgical resection of the tumor.

The model also allowed Bradley and his family to better understand his unique anatomy. “I always thought my tumor was the size of a quarter and didn’t realize how large it was until I saw the [Materialise] model. It’s one of the coolest things I’ve seen by far. I’m looking forward to showing my friends.” Bradley, now 16 years old, is making the most of his condition and continues to be active in sports, with friends and in his church.

“I think 3D Printing will clinically take us to the next generation of imaging. This is our future,” said Dr. David Morales, Cardiothoracic Surgeon at Cincinnati Children’s Hospital.

Building on the success of this case, Materialise‘s mission is to bring 3D Printing direct to clinicians and help more cases like Bradley in the future. For more information on HeartPrint, visit https://biomedical.materialise.com/heartprint For more information about Materialise, visit: https://materialise.com