Hands-on Hearts

3D printing provides physicians a crucial tool for cardiac care 

Maybe you already know that nearly half of all U.S. adults have cardiovascular disease. This includes people with coronary heart disease, heart failure, stroke, and high blood pressure. But would you have guessed that one of the latest weapons to help fight this battle is 3D printing? 

This technology is becoming more popular in cardiac care and research, enabling more precise diagnostics, personalized treatment, and innovative research. 

Healthcare institutions have used 3D printing since the late 1990s, and it has been a regular part of cardiology since 2010, creating detailed models of patients’ hearts, generated from MRI and CT scans. This enables doctors to study the intricate structures of an individual patient’s heart in three dimensions. The technology also is used to develop and test new cardiac devices.

In the clinic

Jonathan Rosenberg, MD, an interventional and structural cardiologist at Endeavor Health, says that although 3D printing is not yet a staple in routine patient care, it’s significantly enhancing diagnostic precision and treatment planning. Rosenberg specializes in minimally invasive heart procedures, focusing primarily on coronary and structural heart procedures. The latter involves implanting devices inside the heart to address abnormalities — an area where 3D printing has proven to be a game-changer.

3d model of a heart, courtesy of Dr. Rosenberg and Endeavor Health
3d model of a heart, courtesy of Dr. Rosenberg and Endeavor Health

“One of the most significant uses of 3D printing is in left atrial appendage closure,” Rosenberg says. “[It’s] an out-pouching in the heart, and we typically place a plug in there to prevent blood clots. Everyone’s appendage is different in shape and size, so having a printed model based on a CT scan allows us to try different devices in the model before performing the actual procedure.” 

This personalized approach ensures that the correct device is selected, reducing the risk of complications and improving the procedure’s success rate. 

3D printing also has been beneficial in addressing leaks after a device is positioned, a rare but challenging complication in which gaps remain around the implanted closure. “The 3D-printed models allow us to simulate the procedure and find the best-fitting device, which is crucial for these complex cases,” Rosenberg says.

The team uses gated CT scans, which provide high-resolution images while synchronizing the heartbeat, to build these models. “These scans give us the detailed information we need to create accurate 3D models,” Rosenberg says. 

And while traditional imaging methods like CT and MRI scans provide measurements for pre-planning, they fall short of offering a tactile experience. “With 3D printing, we can actually hold the model in our hands and see how the device fits,” Rosenberg says. “Nothing beats the tactile feedback you get from a physical model.”

He and his team have been using 3D printing for about two years, initially reserving it for the most complex cases due to the time-consuming nature of the process. Printing a heart model can take between 24 to 48 hours. 

“But with better printer technology and techniques, we’re starting to use it more frequently,” Rosenberg says. His team has printed about 20 heart models so far and is looking to expand this practice significantly. They’ve applied for a grant to conduct a research trial focusing on left atrial appendage closure procedures.

Research and teaching

3D printing is still relatively uncommon in hospitals, but it is gaining traction in top centers nationwide. Although 3D printing isn’t used very often in daily patient care, the technology is the “gold standard” in research projects, according to James Thomas, MD, director of the Center for Heart Valve Disease at Northwestern Medicine. 

Thomas and his team are part of a National Institute of Health study on aortic stenosis, creating 3D-printed models from high-resolution CT scans of patients’ aortic valves to analyze the degree of valve narrowing and the interaction between blood and the vessel walls. These models are mounted in a plastic replica of the heart and imaged with ultrasound and magnetic resonance, to gain insight into the causes of aortic stenosis.

In addition to aortic stenosis research, the team is developing a program to evaluate heart valves after they’ve been repaired. Thomas says they are focusing on catheter-based “edge-to-edge repairs” of the mitral valve, using 3D-printed models to better understand the severity of the residual leak post-repair. 

The ability to create patient-specific models is crucial. 

“We can replicate complex anatomies, such as mitral valves with ruptured cords, which provide insights that simple orifice models cannot,” Thomas says.

Beyond surgical planning and device testing, 3D printing is enhancing the education and training of medical professionals. Medical schools and teaching hospitals across the U.S. use these models to help students and residents understand complex cardiac anatomy and practice procedures in a risk-free environment — a hands-on experience that’s preparing the next generation of cardiac specialists.


Originally published in the Fall 2024/Winter 2025 print issue.
3D Printing
Cardiac Care
Cardiology
Catherine Gianaro
Hearts
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