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A study was undertaken to determine the dimensional accuracy of anatomical replicas derived from X-ray 3D computed tomography (CT) images and produced using the rapid prototyping technique of stereolithography (SLA). A dry bone skull and geometric phantom were scanned, and replicas were produced. Distance measurements were obtained to compare the original objects and the resulting replicas. Repeated measurements between anatomical landmarks were used for comparison of the original skull and replica. Results for the geometric phantom demonstrate a mean difference of +0.47 mm, representing an accuracy of 97.7-99.12%. Measurements of the skull produced a range of absolute differences (maximum +4.62 mm, minimum +0.1 mm, mean +0.85 mm). These results support the use of SLA models of human anatomical structures in such areas as pre-operative planning of complex surgical procedures. For applications where higher accuracy is required, improvements can be expected by utilizing smaller pixel resolution in the CT images. Stereolithographic models can now be confidently employed as accurate, three-dimensional replicas of complex, anatomical structures.

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The authors report the clinical applications of biomodelling with the stereolithography apparatus, a computer-controlled manufacturing technique that builds anatomically accurate skeletal models from sectional radiological data. Reference to several individual cases demonstrates how pre-operative 3-D modelling can refine the accuracy of diagnostic information, facilitate preoperative planning and surgical technique, and reduce operating time.