Computational Modelling Group

Seminar  19th February 2016 11 a.m.  85/2209

Applications of 3D printing technology in congenital heart disease: from planning to communication

Dr Giovanni Biglino
University of Bristol

Categories
Biomechanics, Biomedical, IfLS, Medical Imaging, Medicine
Submitter
Dario Carugo

Rapid prototyping technology can present several important applications in the field of congenital heart disease. From a clinical perspective, patient-specific 3D models can be generated from CMR or CT for device testing, patients’ selection and first-in-man procedures. From a research standpoint, 3D models can be useful for performing hydrodynamic or visualisation experiments, whereby anatomical models are tested under pulsatile conditions and imaged with methods such as particle image velocimetry (PIV) or 4D CMR. Compliant models of realistic distensibility are of particular interest in this instance. Furthermore, phantoms can be 3D printed from patients’ data and represent validation test-beds for numerical models of different congenital scenarios. Last but not least, models can serve educational purposes, including teaching, training medical staff and communicating with patients and families. This talk will give an overview of all applications, covering complex congenital defects such as hypoplastic left heart syndrome and transposition of the great arteries, mentioning devices such as stents and valvuloplasty/sizing balloons, and describing multidisciplinary work with an artist to engage young people with congenital heart disease in appreciating their unique anatomy.

The speaker: Giovanni Biglino graduated in Biomedical Engineering from Imperial College London. He first approached cardiovascular modelling when visiting the Hydraulics Laboratory of the University of Ghent during his undergraduate studies and went on to complete a PhD in cardiovascular mechanics at the Brunel Institute of Bioengineering. His post-doctoral research at University College London and Great Ormond Street Hospital for Children focused on modelling congenital heart disease (including experimental models of single ventricle patients and growth modelling of Tetralogy of Fallot), magnetic resonance imaging, wave intensity analysis, and 3D printing. He received the Young Investigator Fellowship of the American Society for Artificial Internal Organs, a Bogue Fellowship, and a post-doctoral fellowship from the National Institute of Health Research. In 2015 he graduated from the Global Clinical Scholars Research Training programme of the Global Health Division of Harvard Medical School and in 2016 he joined the Bristol Heart Institute as a Lecturer in Cardiovascular Bioinformatics and Medical Statistics.

For more information about the bioengineering seminar series or to suggest a speaker, please email us at one of the addresses below.

Laura.cooper@soton.ac.uk D.Carugo@soton.ac.uk