3-D printed heart created

EuroEcho-Imaging is the leading congress for clinicians and scientists to present and discuss the latest research and clinical findings on echocardiography and other cardiovascular imaging techniques.

New frontiers in cardiovascular imaging will be explored through presentations on three-dimensional imaging, which is a main theme of the congress. Experts will reveal the latest developments in the technology that uses imaging data to print a 3D model of the heart.

Professor Patrizio Lancellotti, EACVI President, said: "The heart is a 3D structure that we traditionally analysed using 2D imaging including echocardiography, cardiac magnetic resonance imaging (CMR) or cardiac computed tomography (CT). But with the advent of 3D imaging, now we can clearly evaluate the structure of the heart in different planes."

He added: "An amazing advance in this field is the ability to print a 3D model of the heart. This will help clinicians doing surgical and percutaneous interventions on the mitral or aortic valve to choose the perfect size of device and plan the procedure according to the patient's anatomy. Also new is the ability to create a 3D computational model of the heart which will assist with interventions but also improve our understanding of the heart's physiology. With this novel technology we will gain insights into the interactions between the valves and the ventricles, the valves and the aorta, and the valves and the left atrium."