Rapid Prototyping models for surgical planning with hard and soft tissue representation

Abstract This paper presents a new approach to build medical models for surgical planning with realistic haptic and optical representation of different types of tissue. This new kind of combined anatomical models is realized by applying different Rapid Prototyping (RP) techniques. Based on medical datasets, preferably computer tomography (CT) scans of the affected region, both soft and hard tissue structures are reconstructed. A stereolithography apparatus builds the hard tissue models and the vacuum casting technique allows to manufacture realistic representations of soft tissues.