An Innovative Method to Construct Silicone Cerebrovascular Replicas

Our objective is to create cerebrovascular replicas that offer detailed geometry from clinical imaging data and have versatile applications such as testing new endovascular devices. To facilitate optical observation, simulate physiological environment and obtain reliable data, the replica is designed to be transparent and elastic with uniform thickness and good compatibility with imaging modalities such as computed tomography (CT), magnetic resonance imaging (MRI) and three-dimensional rotational angiography (3DRA). Several different manufacturing processes have been demonstrated in previous studies [1,2]. The physical 3D vasculature models were first obtained either by injecting methylmethacrylate into the human specimens to get vascular lumen casts of the part of interest or sending data derived from images generated from the imaging facilities to 3D printer for rapid prototyping. Different methods including repeated painting, dip-spin processing, and lost-wax technique were then applied to the casts to form the elastomeric replicas.