Want to 3D print your brain? You can!
That is, if you happen to have an MRI machine handy, or access to the files that it produces.
MRI machines are used to take 3D images of the inside of the human body. Typically, they’re used for diagnostic purposes, as doctors can see inside the body to identify anything off normal.
I’ve always wondered if it would be possible to use that 3D information generated by the MRI machine to produce 3D printable models. It turns out that is far more complex than you’d think. I’ve seen some attempts at doing this, but it involved multiple tools and many steps that most people could not find their way through.
Researchers have developed a method of extracting 3D data from the MRI files and converting them into proper, 3D printable models — in STL format, no less. They’ve implemented their algorithm in a publicly available — and free — online tool called “brain2brint”.
brain2brint includes all the processing steps required, but it isn’t quite a one-touch service. There are some choices to be made.
One question you’re probably wondering is about those 3D files from the MRI machine. MRI machines produce 2D “slice” images in a format known as DICOM. These cannot be directly used by brain2print, as it requires another format known as NIfTI. You’ll have to ask your MRI technician if you can get a copy of the DICOM or NIfTI files.
If you obtain only the DICOM files, the researchers have provided a free utility, NiiVue, to convert the DICOM into a usable format.
The brain2print system itself is entirely browser-based. This means that you do not have to expose your personal MRI data to the Internet, and privacy is assured.
The system shows the input data in 3D form, and provides some parameters that can be tweaked to “extract” the useful brain geometry. Remember that the scan is basically of a completely solid object, your head. The brain itself has to be isolated from the rest of the head to be converted into an STL file.
You can watch the entire process here in a complete video by Andrew Jahn:
Not everyone has the opportunity to be scanned by an MRI machine, and even those that do may not be able to gain access to the data. But those that do now have a way to 3D print their own brain.
Via brain2print, Nature, and YouTube
