SPIE Journal of Medical Imaging article reports advances in 3D-printed patient-specific models for use with diagnostic software in assessing coronary artery disease

Published March 13, 2019 This content is archived.

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An article on SPIE, the website for the International Society for Optics and Photonics, reports on a study noting advancements in 3D-printing patient-specific models to help doctors assess coronary artery disease. Lauren Shepard and Kelsey Sommer, both doctoral students in the Department of Biomedical Engineering, were among the study’s authors.

The research, presented in the open-access article, "Initial evaluation of 3D printed patient-specific coronary phantoms for CT-FFR software validation," demonstrates the utilization of coronary phantoms to accurately assess intermediate-risk patients' Fractional Flow Reserve (FFR), the measurement that determines CAD severity. The research also expands on the current applications of 3D printing to further develop cardiac phantoms with structures closely mimicking patient anatomies, allowing for accurate CT imaging of coronary flow.

The work is a continuation of research presented at the 2018 SPIE Medical Imaging conference - and published in the conference - proceedings entitled "CT investigation of patient-specific phantoms with coronary artery disease."

Shepard and Sommer work in the Canon Stroke and Vascular Research Center, under the direction of Ciprian Ionita, and assistant professor in the Department of Biomedical Engineering. Other UB collaborators include Vijay Iyer and Michael F. Wilson of Interventional Cardiology, University at Buffalo Medicine, UBMD.

The Department of Biomedical Engineering is a joint program between the School of Engineering and Applied Sciences and the Jacobs School of Medicine and Biomedical Sciences.

Read the story here.