Cervical Vertebrae
My internship goal at the Barrow Neurological Institute was to replicate a patient's CT data and the tumors within. This was done with the purpose to later be used in mixed reality in the combination of a VR headset and 3D printed model to teach medical residents different surgical techniques while minimizing risk and stress. In these simulations, residents will get first-person hands-on training to help their career expertise.
Expansion
While surgery is typically non-invasive, the bones in this mixed reality simulation begin at the inferior half of the skull all the way to T1 of the spine. Having this expansive cervical section will allow future surgical simulations to be created using this same base. This means different tumors, angles, and approaches can be practiced with less time spent on creating a brand new 3D model set.
Substance Painter
One of the medical residents' obstacles of this mixed reality simulation will be removing peices of the vertebrae to reach the spinal cord tumor. To achieve a realistic feel I used Substance Painter to bake the high poly UV Map mesh to the low poly object to minimize data. This allowed me to paint on a mesh that maintained the original details of the 3D object without slowing down Substance Painter, or Unity's future user experience.
ZBrush
3D Slicer data isn't always clear, because CT scans aren't always crisp. After the vertebrae were segmented in 3D Slicer, I went through each vertebrae to make sure they articulated correctly without overlapping. I then sculpted each bone to match its intended anatomical structure.