3d printing of skull models in horse, ox and pig

Abstract

In this study, it was aimed to physically create skull models of large-sized animal sample horse, cattle and pig species used in veterinary anatomy education with three-dimensional printing technology and to determine the suitability of these models anatomically. The anatomical structures on the skull models obtained for this purpose were examined comparatively and the advantages and disadvantages of the models in terms of their usability in education were revealed. For the study, 3D reconstruction and segmentation processes were performed digitally on the cross-sectional images of horse, cattle and pig skulls obtained by computed tomography scanning and printed. Anatomical structures were comparatively analyzed on the produced 3d plastic replicas and organic skulls. Anatomical accuracy of the 3d models, printing quality, printing errors, advantages and disadvantages were evaluated. Plastic models were found to be approximately 45% lighter than organic models in horses, 55% lighter in cattle and 60% lighter in pigs. The weight (g)/printing time (s) ratio was calculated as 11.8 for equine skull models, 12.7 for bovine models and 7.4 for porcine models. It was determined that the anatomical accuracy of the models was at a high level, important anatomical structures could be printed in accordance with the original skulls, and only some sutures between the skull bones and holes with a diameter of less than 2 mm could not be clearly visualized due to scanning and printing quality. As a result, it was determined that the plastic replicas obtained can be used in veterinary anatomy education in terms of anatomical accuracy, as well as important advantages such as being lighter, more resistant to effects such as falling, impact, cleaning, easy storage, low cost, reprinting when necessary and making corrections on the model.