As the need for brain imaging has increased, there is also a growing need for a more efficient way to produce brain caps to fit individual heads that are quick and easy to make. Simultaneously, the evolution in 3D printing has generated capabilities into making odd objects quickly and relatively efficiently. Therefore, brain caps could now realistically be 3D printed if a few outstanding issues can be resolved, and the resulting process, called the ninjaCap, could be created. The first problem was to design the brain cap through AtlasViewer, a MATLAB application, placing grommets that hold the brain probes in the desired area for what part of the brain that needed to be scanned. Once the design is done, it generated and saved into four .SD files representing each section of the brain cap that is created: right side, left side, and the middle is split in half. Once that is done, the .SD files created must be converted into .STL files to be read and printed by the 3D printer. Using thermoplastic polyurethane (TPU) filament and inputting the correct specifications into the printer, the four pieces can now be printed.

The next obstacle was to determine the best method to connect the four different pieces by their welding tabs of the panels that were printed. Three different methods were tested in combining these pieces: 1) 3D pen, 2) a hot air machine, and 3) a soldering iron. The 3D pen added more filament to the welding tabs with TPU 85, and the pieces stuck together very well. Next, the hot air machine was tested by using the hot air and needle nose pliers to heat and clamp the pieces together. Finally, a common soldering iron using a flat tip and applying low heat combined with pressure and sliding over the welding tabs fused them together.

Out of the three methods, the soldering iron worked the best because it is a more common item and guiding it in one specific area was relatively easy and the tabs fused together; the downside was the welds sometimes looked misshaped, or too much was melted off. While the 3D pen did work tremendously in combining the tabs; it created a messy appearance around the welding tabs and could be pulled apart. The hot air machine did not work as well as the others, so while it did meld the tabs together, oftentimes, the hot air would blow onto the lattice structure of the brain cap and completely melt and break it off. With the need for more brain caps and the evolution of 3D printing, once the ninjaCap is revised, it will be a solution for future researchers and professionals looking to produce their own brain caps at a lesser cost and in a timely manner.