Development of a personalized and realistic educational thyroid cancer phantom based on CT images: An evaluation of...

Communication with patients on their thyroidectomy is complex and difficult, especially for inexperienced clinicians, because of the organ's anatomical complexity and proximity to arteries, veins, nerves and vital organs. The aim of this work was to develop a CT image-based 3D-printed model of thyroid cancer using various kinds of 3D printers and to compare their accuracies and other aspects regarding facilitating this patient-physician communication by improving both parties' understanding.

A 3D-printing model for thyroid surgery was designed based on head and neck CT data of a patient with thyroid cancer. Models reflecting the anatomical structure of the CT image were printed with three different types of 3D printers, namely, fused deposition modeling (FDM), color-jet printing (CJP), and Polyjet for comparison and evaluation. Appropriate printing materials and techniques were used to represent the texture and color of actual anatomical structures. Next, printing accuracies and various aspects of these phantoms were evaluated and compared to determine the advantages and disadvantages of the different printing types.

Accuracies (mean difference ± 95% CI) of FDM, CJP, and Polyjet were 1.24 ± 0.77, 0.36 ± 0.34, and 0.58 ± 0.89 mm, respectively. Regarding accuracy and clinical demands, the Polyjet method was most suitable for fabricating an educational thyroid phantom; however, its cost was relatively high.

The phantoms produced could be used for various purposes, including teaching and training of less-experienced surgeons, for preoperative surgical planning and for patient education, and could provide more accurate and patient-specific anatomical information compared with commercially manufactured alternatives.