Doctor 3D-Prints Brain as Christmas Tree Ornament

— -- A British pediatrician is decorating his tree this year with the most thoughtful Christmas tree ornament ever: A replica of his own brain.

Dr. Christopher Kelly, who is studying the brains of children with congenital heart disease, started the process by taking an MRI brain scan as a volunteer for an experiment. After using software to convert the scan into a printable object, it took about half a day to print out the unique wrinkles and folds of his gray matter.

Once printed, Kelly spray-painted the models silver. Now several of the replicas hang on his Christmas tree at home.

“It was just a slightly random fun thing to do while working in a brain research department, and my wife loves Christmas decorations,” he said when asked by 3dprint.com why he created the brain ornaments. “It’s had a bit of a mixed reaction; either ‘cool’ or ‘a bit spooky.’”

Kelly also 3D-printed a full sized model of his brain that he said he plans to use as a desktop conversation piece.