3-D Printing Models of Human Organs
It was summer 2016 when Narutoshi Hibino began collaborating with graduate student Sarah Chen on a peculiar puzzle: Could they produce a three-dimensional model of a baby’s heart? A cardiac surgeon at the Johns Hopkins Hospital and assistant professor of surgery at the Johns Hopkins University School of Medicine, Hibino’s surgical experience is in treating adult and pediatric patients with congenital heart diseases. One such disease is hypoplastic left heart syndrome, a birth defect that affects normal blood flow and usually requires repairing the blood vessels coming out of the heart. Congenital diseases are tricky in that no two hearts are alike; the heart and vessels of each patient are unique. Hibino wanted a pediatric heart model created to mimic a patient’s exact anatomy. In early 2017, Hibino teamed up with Juan Garcia , director of the hospital’s new 3-D print facility. Their collaboration combined surgical expertise, medical illustration, and cutting edge engine...