A Reddit user in Japan who goes by the name Incendiaryflaffle shared a photo of their 3D printed brain after converting data from a recent MRI into an STL file.

It turns out, it’s “pretty easy” to do if you’ve had an MRI and have the data from it still.

IncendiaryFlaffle wrote in the comments that they used a free software called Invesalius and a step-by-step guide on Medimodel. Since their MRI data came with multiple image sets, they picked the one that “had a higher contrast of the brain compared to the rest of the skull.”

Some users commented that the brain looked worryingly smooth, which Incendiaryflaffle wrote was probably caused by the contrast settings used to export it.

Another user, graphiteGuy1, chimed in saying they did the same thing, scaling the print of their brain to about 75% and bringing it to work.

“I wait until people pick it up to tell them it’s mine,” they wrote. “Normally gets the reaction I want. It didn’t work on my boss, though, he just pointed out a spot that looked “irregularly smooth.””

Others said they’d done the same with CT scans or with data from other parts of the body.

To try it yourself or learn more about it, check out the original post here.

(Lead image source: Incendiaryflaffle / Reddit)