Personalized 3D kidney model produced by rapid prototyping method and its usefulness in clinical applications

Abstract

Background:Three-dimensional (3D) printing has been introduced as a novel technique to produce 3D objects. We tried to evaluate the clinical usefulness of 3D-printed renal model in performing partial nephrectomy (PN) and also in the education of medical students.Materials and Methods:We prospectively produced personalized renal models using 3D-printing methods from preoperative computed tomography (CT) images in a total of 10 patients. Two different groups (urologist and student group) appraised the clinical usefulness of 3D-renal models by answering questionnaires.Results:After application of 3D renal models, the urologist group gave highly positive responses in asking clinical usefulness of 3D-model among PN (understanding personal anatomy: 8.9 / 10, preoperative surgical planning: 8.2 / 10, intraoperative tumor localization: 8.4 / 10, plan for further utilization in future: 8.3 / 10, clinical usefulness in complete endophytic mass: 9.5 / 10). The student group located each renal tumor correctly in 47.3% when they solely interpreted the CT images. After the introduction of 3D-models, the rate of correct answers was significantly elevated to 70.0% (p < 0.001). The subjective difficulty level in localizing renal tumor was also significantly low (52% versus 27%, p < 0.001) when they utilized 3D-models.Conclusion:The personalized 3D renal model was revealed to significantly enhance the understanding of correct renal anatomy in patients with renal tumors in both urologist and student groups. These models can be useful for establishing the perioperative planning and also education program for medical students.

A Systematic Review of the Clinical Value and Applications of Three-Dimensional Printing in Renal Surgery

“…Of 27 studies, 18 utilised CT datasets to construct the 3D-printed models [6,7,9,10,11,12,15,16,17,18,20,21,22,23,24,25,30,31], while five utilised MRI datasets [5,8,19,26,29], and 4 utilised a combination of both imaging modalities [13,14,27,28].…”

“…Different studies have explored the feasibility of creating patient-specific, 3D-printed kidney models for applications including education and pre-surgical planning of complex cases of renal disease, due to the ability of 3D models to superiorly encapsulate anatomic spatial relationships [3,5,6,7,8,9,10,11,12,13,14,15,16,17,18,19,20,21,22,23,24,25,26,27,28,29,30,31]. Whilst conventional volumetric imaging modalities such as computed tomography (CT) and magnetic resonance imaging (MRI) are the commonly used imaging modalities for guiding pre-operative planning decisions, they are limited to viewing on a two-dimensional (2D) monitor and therefor lack the ability to demonstrate tumour depth-perception.…”

Anatomical background of ovine kidney for use as animal model: analysis of arterial segmentation, proportional volume of each segment and arterial injury after cranial pole partial nephrectomy

“…histological, molecular). Recently, renal endocasts are being obtaining by 3D printing and used for different purposes (28)(29)(30). The information of renal anatomy is commonly obtained by computer tomograms or magnetic resonance exams.…”

Review of the effect of 3D medical printing and virtual reality on urology training with ‘MedTRain3DModsim’ Erasmus + European Union Project

“…Lee et al [28] produced personalized renal models using 3DP methods from the preoperative CT images of a total of 10 patients. In 2 different groups (urologist and student groups), the clinical usefulness of 3D renal models were appraised by answering questionnaires.…”