Case Study: University of Texas Southwestern Medical Center achieves deeper understanding of brain lesions and improved patient care with Stratasys PolyJet 3D printing

How you can better understand brain lesions through 3D printing, leading to better treatment and compliance

The University of Texas Southwestern Medical Center, led by Dr. Darin T. Okuda, needed better ways to visualize and communicate complex brain lesions from multiple sclerosis (MS) and tumors like glioblastoma multiforme (GBM) because traditional MRI/CT slices obscure true 3D shape and surface texture. To overcome these limits, the team worked with Stratasys, using PolyJet Digital Materials (including VeroUltra Clear) to create patient-specific, multi‑color, multi‑material 3D brain and spinal models.

Stratasys’ PolyJet solution produced high‑resolution, transparent and textured models that revealed lesion shape, age and surface characteristics not visible on 2D scans, sparking new research hypotheses, feeding machine- and deep-learning analyses, and improving clinical decision-making. The tangible models also made patient education more intuitive—patients could hold their own tumor or lesion model—leading to better treatment understanding and compliance and measurable outcomes such as identified surface‑texture differences across patient groups and clear visualization of GBM volume changes between timepoints.

University of Texas Southwestern Medical Center

Darin Okuda

Director of Neuroinnovation