Recreating Fossils Using CT Imaging and 3D Printing Technology

German scientists are using data gleaned from computed tomography (CT) scans with three-dimensional (3D) printers to generate precise duplicates of fossilized bones.

The research findings were published online November 8, 2013, in the journal Radiology. Fossils are frequently stowed in plaster casts (jackets) to protect them from damage. Gathering data about a fossil typically requires the removal of the plaster and all the sediment surrounding it, which can lead to loss of material or even destruction of the fossil itself.

German researchers assessed the possibility of using CT and 3D printers to nondestructively separate fossilized bone from its surrounding sediment matrix and generate a 3D print of the fossilized bone itself. “The most important benefit of this method is that it is nondestructive, and the risk of harming the fossil is minimal,” said study author Ahi Sema Issever, MD, from the department of radiology at Charité Campus Mitte (Berlin, Germany). “Also, it is not as time-consuming as conventional preparation.”

Dr. Issever and colleagues applied the technology to an unidentified fossil from the Museum für Naturkunde, a major natural history museum in Berlin. The fossil and others like it were buried under rubble in the basement of the museum after a bombing raid during World War II. Museum staff members since then have had difficulty sorting and identifying some of the plaster jackets.
Researchers performed CT on the unidentified fossil with a 320-slice multidetector system. The different attenuation or absorption of radiation, through the bone compared with the surrounding matrix enabled clear depiction of a fossilized vertebral body.

After studying the CT scan and comparing it to old excavation drawings, the researchers were able to trace the fossil’s origin to the Halberstadt excavation, a major dig from 1910 to 1927 in a clay pit south of Halberstadt (Germany). Furthermore, the CT study provided critical information about the condition and integrity of the fossil, revealing many fractures and destruction of the front rim of the vertebral body.

Furthermore, the CT dataset helped the researchers build an accurate reconstruction of the fossil with selective laser sintering, a technology that uses a high-powered laser to fuse together materials to product a 3D object. Dr. Issever noted that the findings come at a time when developments in technology and less expensive availability of 3D printers are making them more common as a tool for research. Digital models of the objects can be transferred rapidly among researchers, and boundless numbers of exact copies may be produced and distributed, greatly furthering scientific exchange, according to Dr. Issever. Moreover, the technology has the potential to enable a global interchange of unique fossils with museums, schools, and other settings.

“The digital dataset, and ultimately, reproductions of the 3D print may easily be shared, and other research facilities could thus gain valuable informational access to rare fossils, which otherwise would have been restricted,” Dr. Issever concluded. “Just like Gutenberg’s printing press opened the world of books to the public, digital datasets and 3D prints of fossils may now be distributed more broadly, while protecting the original intact fossil.”

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