Around the globe, researchers are utilizing 3D printing to help fight cancer in a myriad of ways.
The latest advancement comes from the Tomsk Cancer Research Institute of Tomsk Polytechnic University, Russia, where researchers have created a new, 3D printable material, capable of assessing radiotherapy treatments.
Tomsk Polytechnic’s 3D printed models are referred to as dosimetry phantoms, AKA 3D printed phantom bodies, and are essentially made to mimic body parts which can then be used to determine which tissues will receive radiation.
Yuri Cherepennikov, a senior lecturer from Tomsk’s Division of Nuclear Fuel Cycles, explains, “We have developed a polymer material which is identical in density to the tissues of the body, and various additives allow creating analogues of a variety of tissues: bone, muscle, fat, and others.”
The 3D printed material is designed to have the exact texture and density of an infected part of a patient’s body, where it can then be issued given the required dosage of radiotherapy.
In the end, doctors can examine the experiment and then utilize the results to minimize the amount of damage done to a patient’s healthy tissue, enabling them to focus dosage onto the tumor.
More information on the team’s current research into 3D printed dosimetry phantoms can be viewed here.
