Could 3D Printing Be Used to Treat Brain Aneurysms?

When it comes to medical issues, very little can be as scary as those affecting the brain. This is especially the case for brain aneurysms. Defined by the Mayo Clinic as a bulge or ballooning in a blood vessel in the brain, brain aneurysms often show no symptoms and are only detected when they burst, something that is fatal in about 50% of cases and which can cause permanent neurological deficits in survivors. Moreover, treatment can be difficult and is not always effective. However, researchers at the University of Oklahoma hope to use 3D printing to improve brain aneurysm medical care.

The five-year project is being led by Chung-Hao Lee, an associate professor at the Gallogly College of Engineering. He will be working with Yingtao Liu, Ph.D., William H. Barkow Presidential Professor and associate professor in the Gallogly College of Engineering at OU; Bradley N. Bohnstedt, M.D., a neurosurgeon at Indiana University School of Medicine; and Hyowon Lee, Ph.D., a biomedical engineer at Purdue University. The goal of the project is to better treat subarachnoid hemorrhages, or bleeding occurring in between the brain and the surrounding membrane.

Chung-Hao Lee, Ph.D. (right), and Yingtao Liu, Ph.D. who are working on this project (photo credits: University of Oklahoma)

Currently, there are two treatments that are used to treat brain aneurysms. One is surgical clip litigation which is risky since its involves open-skull surgery. The other is the current “gold standard” treatment and is called endovascular coil embolization. Essentially, in this minimally evasive surgery, a catheter deliver soft coils to prevent the flow of blood into the affected blood vessel. This helps to keep it from rupturing.