Open Access

Anjali A. Roeth, Ian Garretson, Maja Beltz, Till Herbold, Maximilian Schulze-Hagen, Sebastian Quaisser, Alex Georgens, Dirk Reith, Ioana Slabu, Christian D. Klink, Ulf P. Neumann, Barbara S. Linke

• Animal models are often needed in cancer research but some research questions may be answered with other models, e.g., 3D replicas of patient-specific data, as these mirror the anatomy in more detail. We, therefore, developed a simple eight-step process to fabricate a 3D replica from computer tomography (CT) data using solely open access software and described the method in detail. For evaluation, we performed experiments regarding endoscopic tumor treatment with magnetic nanoparticles by magnetic hyperthermia and local drug release. For this, the magnetic nanoparticles need to be accumulated at the tumor site via a magnetic field trap. Using the developed eight-step process, we printed a replica of a locally advanced pancreatic cancer and used it to find the best position for the magnetic field trap. In addition, we described a method to hold these magnetic field traps stably in place. The results are highly important for the development of endoscopic tumor treatment with magnetic nanoparticles as the handling and the stable positioning of the magnetic field trap at the stomach wall in close proximity to the pancreatic tumor could be defined and practiced. Finally, the detailed description of the workflow and use of open access software allows for a wide range of possible uses.