A man saved his wife's vision thanks to 3D printing
Michael Balzer , a specialist in 3D modeling, used his skills to create a model of his wife's skull with a tumor in it from the MRI results. He then uploaded a model on Sketchfab, where he found a surgeon willing to undergo surgery. The model of a skull with a tumor printed on a 3D printer allowed the surgeon to carefully plan the operation and remove the meningioma through a small hole above the eye socket, while in ordinary cases this requires opening the skull and literally raising the brain. The model can be twisted here .
Michael Balzer lost his job due to a long illness, after which he created a career as a 3D modeling specialist, and also helped his wife, a psychotherapist, develop procedures for treating gambling.
His wife, Pamela Shavan Scott, shortly before the summer of 2013, underwent an operation to remove the thyroid gland, and in the summer she developed headaches. The couple took this seriously: pain could be a symptom of new problems after surgery. An MRI scan showed the presence of a tumor about three centimeters in diameter in the skull behind the left eye. Neurologists explained that this is utter nonsense, and that you only need to double-check in a year. Balzer did not sit on the spot, he decided to get rid of his wife’s tumor as soon as possible and began searching for alternative ways.
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One of the ways is to resort to the help of medical robotic surgeons , for which you would have to travel from California to the Medical Center of Pittsburgh. The MRI surgeons who received the results at this center agreed that Pamela needed surgery.
Belzer requested DICOM files for his wife's skull studies so that he could work with them at home. This step subsequently played an important role when, a few months later, Scott and Belzer were scared by the doctors: the tumor, they said, had grown a lot! That is, the situation was much worse than doctors thought after the first MRI. Belzer had already opened Photoshop at home, put new DICOM files on old ones, and realized that the radiologist had measured the tumor from a different angle , in fact, the dimensions had not changed.
Belzer began to look for tools that would make a three-dimensional model out of two-dimensional DICOM images. The purpose of the work was to create a model that clearly demonstrates the location and size of the tumor. In the case of Pamela, it was a meningioma. The standard operation for this tumor involves opening the patient's skull, after which doctors literally need to lift the brain - the operation is very dangerous. The patient's nerves may be displaced, so that he may lose his sense of smell, taste, or vision. The question arose: is it possible to make such an operation non-invasive?
Tools were found. Firstly, this is the free program InVesalius, created by a research center in Brazil. The program converted the results of MRI in DICOM files into a 3D image. This allowed to twist the tumor and view it from all sides. The result of the render was uploaded to Sketchfab to share it with neurosurgeons across the country hoping to find someone who would agree to the same procedure. Such a surgeon was found.
Balzer used his MakerBot to print a model of the skull. The surgeon used this model to carefully plan a minimally invasive operation. The tumor was removed in May 2014 through a hole above the orbit. Neurosurgeons learned that the tumor had already begun to entangle the optic nerves, and only half a year remained before the loss of vision. Over 8 hours, doctors removed 95% of the tumor. Three weeks later, Scott returned to work.
Without knowing it, Balzer recreated technology for medical use, similar to the Butterfly Network Device : this service includes 3D scanning and a platform for doctors and patients to share the results through a secure cloud service. Now, Balzer leads the All Things 3D podcast, where he often invites doctors as speakers, and has organized a seminar on 3D in medicine .
Michael Balzer lost his job due to a long illness, after which he created a career as a 3D modeling specialist, and also helped his wife, a psychotherapist, develop procedures for treating gambling.
His wife, Pamela Shavan Scott, shortly before the summer of 2013, underwent an operation to remove the thyroid gland, and in the summer she developed headaches. The couple took this seriously: pain could be a symptom of new problems after surgery. An MRI scan showed the presence of a tumor about three centimeters in diameter in the skull behind the left eye. Neurologists explained that this is utter nonsense, and that you only need to double-check in a year. Balzer did not sit on the spot, he decided to get rid of his wife’s tumor as soon as possible and began searching for alternative ways.
')
One of the ways is to resort to the help of medical robotic surgeons , for which you would have to travel from California to the Medical Center of Pittsburgh. The MRI surgeons who received the results at this center agreed that Pamela needed surgery.
Belzer requested DICOM files for his wife's skull studies so that he could work with them at home. This step subsequently played an important role when, a few months later, Scott and Belzer were scared by the doctors: the tumor, they said, had grown a lot! That is, the situation was much worse than doctors thought after the first MRI. Belzer had already opened Photoshop at home, put new DICOM files on old ones, and realized that the radiologist had measured the tumor from a different angle , in fact, the dimensions had not changed.
Belzer began to look for tools that would make a three-dimensional model out of two-dimensional DICOM images. The purpose of the work was to create a model that clearly demonstrates the location and size of the tumor. In the case of Pamela, it was a meningioma. The standard operation for this tumor involves opening the patient's skull, after which doctors literally need to lift the brain - the operation is very dangerous. The patient's nerves may be displaced, so that he may lose his sense of smell, taste, or vision. The question arose: is it possible to make such an operation non-invasive?
Meningioma is a tumor that grows from the cells of the arachnoid mater, namely the arachnoid endothelium - the tissue surrounding the brain. ( Wikipedia )
Tools were found. Firstly, this is the free program InVesalius, created by a research center in Brazil. The program converted the results of MRI in DICOM files into a 3D image. This allowed to twist the tumor and view it from all sides. The result of the render was uploaded to Sketchfab to share it with neurosurgeons across the country hoping to find someone who would agree to the same procedure. Such a surgeon was found.
Balzer used his MakerBot to print a model of the skull. The surgeon used this model to carefully plan a minimally invasive operation. The tumor was removed in May 2014 through a hole above the orbit. Neurosurgeons learned that the tumor had already begun to entangle the optic nerves, and only half a year remained before the loss of vision. Over 8 hours, doctors removed 95% of the tumor. Three weeks later, Scott returned to work.
Without knowing it, Balzer recreated technology for medical use, similar to the Butterfly Network Device : this service includes 3D scanning and a platform for doctors and patients to share the results through a secure cloud service. Now, Balzer leads the All Things 3D podcast, where he often invites doctors as speakers, and has organized a seminar on 3D in medicine .
Source: https://habr.com/ru/post/375599/
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