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(Circulation. 2008;117:2388-2394.)
© 2008 American Heart Association, Inc.

New Drugs and Technologies

Rapid Prototyping

A New Tool in Understanding and Treating Structural Heart Disease

Michael S. Kim, MD; Adam R. Hansgen, BS; Onno Wink, PhD; Robert A. Quaife, MD; John D. Carroll, MD

From the University of Colorado at Denver, Aurora, Colo (M.S.K., A.R.H., R.A.Q., J.D.C.); and Philips Healthcare, Bothell, Wash (O.W.).

Reprint requests to John D. Carroll, MD, University of Colorado at Denver, 12401 E 17th Ave, Room 524, Campus Mail Stop B-132, PO Box 6511, Aurora, CO 80045. E-mail John.Carroll{at}UCHSC.edu

As the appreciation of structural heart disease in children and adults has increased and as catheter-based closure procedures are now being performed in clinical practice, cardiovascular physicians have multiple compelling new reasons to better understand cardiac anatomic and spatial relationships. Current 2-dimensional imaging techniques remain limited both in their ability to represent the complex 3-dimensional relationships present in structural heart disease and in their capacity to adequately facilitate often complex corrective procedures. This review discusses the cardiovascular applications of rapid prototyping, a new technology that may not only play a significant role in the planning of catheter-based interventions but also may serve as a valuable educational tool to enhance the medical community’s understanding of the many forms of structural heart disease.

Key Words: computed tomography • heart defects, congenital • heart septal defects • percutaneous closure • rapid prototyping