The Digital-to-Physical Workflow (DICOM to STL)
The lifecycle of a 3D-printed medical device begins with high-resolution patient data, typically captured via CT or MRI scans. This data is stored in the DICOM (Digital Imaging and Communications in Medicine) format. Specialized software then "segments" the images, separating the target anatomy (like a specific bone or tumor) from surrounding tissue to create a virtual 3D mesh.
Once the virtual model is refined, it is exported as an STL file and sent to "slicing" software, which translates the 3D object into a series of 2D layers for the printer. In 2026, this workflow is increasingly automated by AI-driven segmentation, which can identify complex anatomical landmarks in seconds, a process that previously took clinical engineers hours of manual labor.