Mechanical Testing of 3D-Printed Pediatric Trachea-Shaped Specimens: A Suitability Study
Source abstract
Abstract
In the absence of standard procedures for testing 3D-printed soft polymers, an experimental protocol was proposed to assess the suitability of Flexible 80A Resin for a pediatric trachea anatomical 3D model for surgical simulation. Eighteen specimens printed via stereolithography are involved, including anatomical, cylindrical, and dog-bone shapes, to investigate the geometry effect on measured properties. Static tensile tests revealed that using standardized dog-bone specimens as a reference for the material’s Young’s modulus leads to a mean absolute percentage error (MAPE) up to 50% compared to anatomical specimens. Measurement uncertainty combined repeatability with input errors, and the ANOVA test confirmed the need for dedicated mechanical measurements when evaluating complex 3D-printed geometries. The study concludes the suitability of selected material: the average elastic modulus of anatomical specimens was 4.75 MPa, closely matching values reported for tracheal tissue in the literature, with a MAPE of only 2%. Dynamic mechanical tests showed trachea-like viscoelasticity: anatomical specimens were consistently stiffer and more dissipative than cylindrical ones. Creep tests confirmed the viscoelastic behavior simulating airway time scales. The anatomical specimens exhibit faster local relaxation, while cylindrical ones show slower long-term relaxation, both modeled by a two-element generalized Maxwell model (R2 = 0.99 and 0.98).
Source: crossref · Quality: baseline
Research context
OpenAlex topics: Anatomy and Medical Technology · Orthopaedic implants and arthroplasty · Airway Management and Intubation Techniques
SciVX discovery tags are terminology-based. OpenAlex topics are source-provided classifications.
Affiliations
Department of Industrial, Electronic and Mechanical Engineering, University of Roma Tre, 00146 Rome, Italy
Multimodal Imaging Unit, IRCCS Bambino Gesù Children’s Hospital, Piazza S. Onofrio, 4, 00165 Rome, Italy
Clinical Engineering Service, IRCCS Bambino Gesù Children’s Hospital, Piazza S. Onofrio, 4, 00165 Rome, Italy
Funding
Italian Ministry of Health with “Current Research funds”
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