Maker Faire Providence 2025
Show Some Spine - From medical imagery to physical objects
Home: New Hampshire, United States of America
Ever wanted to let someone borrow your brain? Show them you've got spine? Thanks to modern open source tools and off the shelf hardware, you can do just that. Computer axial tomography (CAT) and MRI scans are routinely ordered for all sorts of medical issues, and while their primary purpose is to diagnose medical conditions, they can also serve as great subject matter for 3D printing projects. In almost all cases, you can request a copy of your imagery, and then use freely available tools to isolate parts of your body and export them as an STL, ready to feed to your favorite slicer and print. Learn how to ask for your data, which tools work best, and see a 3D printed spine.
Additional Project Photos
Maker
James Turner
What Inspired You to Make This?
I've always been hugely interested in the idea of the quantified self and how people can leverage their personal phenotypic data, be it for the greater public good, or for their own benefit. Partly through my participation in research, and partially because my body keeps finding interesting ways to fail, I have collected a good amount of my own medical data. I first 3D printed my brain after participating in an MRI study at Harvard, but the tools were primitive and the results mediocre. After having a CAT scan done this spring because of kidney stones, I decided to see how things have changed in the decade since. What I discovered is that the tools available now are leaps and bounds better, especially since they now incorporate AI to help isolate body parts. As a result, I was able to print out my spine at 1:1 scale in amazing fidelity.
