Marcelino Bernardo1, 2, Dagane Daar1, 2, Baris Turkbey1, Maria J. Merino3, Peter Pinto4, Peter L. Choyke1
1Molecular Imaging Program, National Cancer Institute, Bethesda, MD, United States; 2SAIC-Frederick, Frederick, MD, United States; 3Laboratory of Pathology, National Cancer Institute, Bethesda, MD, United States; 4Urology Oncology Branch, National Cancer Institute, Bethesda, MD, United States
The correlation of prostate MRI to whole-mount sections is essential in order to validate MRI findings. Tissue blocks with the correct location, orientation and shape can be obtained by cutting the deformable prostatectomy specimen inside a mold designed from the patients MRI. In this work, we describe and demonstrate an automated method for designing these molds and creating them using open source software and a low cost 3-D printer. It should be practical in large population studies necessary to compile a training set for developing a decision support system for detecting and localizing prostate cancer.