Campbell Maxwell C, Pollmann Steven I, Milner Jaques S, Lalone Emily A, Holdsworth David W
School of Mechanical and Materials Engineering, Western University, London, Ontario, Canada.
Imaging Research Laboratories, Robarts Research Institute, London, Ontario, Canada.
J Appl Clin Med Phys. 2025 Aug;26(8):e70159. doi: 10.1002/acm2.70159.
3D printing has a number of applications within medicine and healthcare. In applications involving radiography, the internal infill structure and external geometry of a 3D printed part can produce undesirable artifacts, limiting the full potential of 3D printing as a manufacturing technology. While the mechanical performance of a 3D printed part can be easily simulated, it is difficult to simulate the radiographic artifact produced.
The purpose of this work was to develop a tool that allows users to simulate the radiographic artifact produced by a 3D printed object.
Three regular hexagons of identical geometry were sliced and 3D printed using polylactic acid (PLA) filament on a fused deposition modeling (FDM) 3D printer with varying infill patterns: rectilinear grid, cubic, and gyroid. The hexagons were then radiographed using clinical-standard scanning protocols. The captured radiographs were compared to simulated radiographs generated using the G-Code developed when the objects were sliced. The physical and simulated virtual radiographs were compared to one another, and the simulated angle of least and greatest artifact was noted.
Strong visual agreement was found between the physically captured and simulated virtual radiographs. The projection angles that produced the least amount of artifact were 22.5°, 22.5°, and 12.25° for grid, cubic, and gyroid infills, respectively. The projection angles that produced the greatest amount of artifact were 0°, 45°, and 45° for grid, cubic, and gyroid infills, respectively.
This work provides designers of 3D printed components with a new way to evaluate a design's radiographic performance. Previously, designers would have to physically print and radiograph a part to determine the artifact produced. This work outlines the development of a tool that simulates the radiograph of a 3D printed part from multiple different projections, saving designers time to iterate to their final design.
3D打印在医学和医疗保健领域有许多应用。在涉及射线照相的应用中，3D打印部件的内部填充结构和外部几何形状可能会产生不良伪影，限制了3D打印作为一种制造技术的全部潜力。虽然3D打印部件的机械性能可以很容易地模拟，但很难模拟所产生的射线照相伪影。
这项工作的目的是开发一种工具，使用户能够模拟3D打印物体产生的射线照相伪影。
将三个几何形状相同的正六边形切片，并使用聚乳酸（PLA）细丝在熔融沉积建模（FDM）3D打印机上以不同的填充图案进行3D打印：直线网格、立方体和螺旋状。然后使用临床标准扫描协议对六边形进行射线照相。将捕获的射线照片与使用物体切片时生成的G代码生成的模拟射线照片进行比较。将物理射线照片和模拟虚拟射线照片相互比较，并记录产生最小和最大伪影的模拟角度。
在物理捕获的射线照片和模拟虚拟射线照片之间发现了很强的视觉一致性。对于网格、立方体和螺旋状填充，产生伪影最少的投影角度分别为22.5°、22.5°和12.25°。对于网格、立方体和螺旋状填充，产生伪影最多的投影角度分别为0°、45°和45°。
这项工作为3D打印部件的设计师提供了一种评估设计射线照相性能的新方法。以前，设计师必须实际打印并对部件进行射线照相，以确定产生的伪影。这项工作概述了一种工具的开发，该工具可以从多个不同投影模拟3D打印部件的射线照片，节省设计师迭代到最终设计的时间。
