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Kidney tumours · Interactive 3D model
Kidney tumour 3D model
Set the size and position of the tumour to match your scan, open the kidney to see how the tumour relates to the blood vessels and the urine-collecting system, and remove the tumour on the model to see what a kidney-sparing operation leaves behind. The note beside the model explains what the finding usually means for surgery.
Open the model full screenClinical view for urologists and residentsTreatment by tumour size and stage
Written and reviewed by Prof. Dr. Mutlu Ateş, urologist, Antalya American Hospital. More than 1,000 robotic operations. Schematic educational model; it does not replace an examination. Published 11 November 2026, updated 12 November 2026.
Video · 1 min 33 s
The model explained
A narrated walk through a 5 cm tumour in the middle part of the kidney: where it sits, what a section shows, and what decides between removing the tumour alone and removing the whole kidney.
Read the transcript
In the middle part of this kidney, we see a tumour about five centimetres across. It sits on the outer edge, and it is almost half as long as the kidney itself, which measures about eleven centimetres. On the inner side is the hilum of the kidney. This is where the renal artery and vein pass, and where the ureter, which carries urine to the bladder, joins the collecting system of the kidney. Now let us take a section through the kidney, and see how far the tumour reaches into the tissue. As you can see, part of the tumour grows outward from the kidney, while the rest extends into the kidney tissue. We call this a partly exophytic tumour. From the side, we can see the part that bulges outward and the part that stays inside the kidney together. From above, it becomes clearer how deeply the tumour extends into the kidney tissue. Now let us close the section. So what decides the surgical plan? Not only the size of the tumour, but also where in the kidney it lies, how deep it goes, and how close it is to the blood vessels and the urine-collecting system. Because the main goal of surgery is to control the cancer while preserving as much healthy kidney tissue as possible. For this reason, in suitable patients, instead of removing the whole kidney, a robot-assisted partial nephrectomy, in which only the tumour is removed, may be preferred. Which operation is right, however, is decided by assessing the imaging findings and the patient's general condition together.
How to use it
Six things the model shows
The model is drawn to scale: the kidney is about 11 cm long, and the tumour can be set from 1 to 15 cm.
Match your scan
Type the diameter from your CT or MRI report and choose the right or left kidney, the level from the upper pole to the lower pole, the surface the tumour sits on (outer edge, front, back or next to the hilum) and how deep it lies.
Open the kidney
The kidney opens along its length. You can see the outer layer where most tumours start, the pyramids, the urine-collecting system and the vessels, and how close the tumour comes to them.
Remove the tumour
One button lifts the tumour out with a thin rim of healthy tissue, as in a partial nephrectomy. The model shows the bed that is left, whether the urine-collecting system is reached and roughly how much healthy kidney tissue stays. It is an estimate on a model kidney, not a prediction for your own.
Cysts and tumours beyond the kidney
A cyst can be shown instead of a solid tumour, drawn by its Bosniak grade from a simple cyst to one with solid growths. A tumour that has grown into the fat around the kidney or into the kidney vein (stage T3a) can be shown as well.
Read the note
The note beside the model explains what the finding usually means: kidney-sparing surgery for small tumours, a case-by-case decision between 4 and 7 cm, and usually removal of the whole kidney above 7 cm or once the tumour has grown beyond the kidney. The plan for each patient is made from the scans.
Share or save the view
The Share button makes a link that reopens the model with the same settings, and it can be sent on WhatsApp. Save image stores the view with a short summary. Both carry only the settings of the model, no personal data.
For urologists and residents
Clinical view
The clinical view adds coronal and axial sections at any depth, the option of keeping the tumour whole while the kidney is cut, anatomical names with notes on each structure, T stage, Bosniak grades for cystic masses and the approach from the EAU Guidelines on Renal Cell Carcinoma, 2026. The R.E.N.A.L. nephrometry score is computed as the tumour is moved, with each component explained, and the resection on the model reports the share of parenchyma preserved and whether the collecting system or sinus is entered. The score is schematic; the real one is read from imaging. Switch to the clinical view.