Mr. Sugimoto believes that longer-term, the technology could help younger, less experienced surgeons practice with accurate copies before surgery.

WSJ: Next to Use 3-D Printing: Your Surgeon

If doctors feel more confident about the surgeries they are about to perform, patients will feel more comfortable, Mr. Sugimoto said.

WSJ: Next to Use 3-D Printing: Your Surgeon

Sugimoto painted pastoral landscapes before the war, but during and after his incarceration his work reflected the experience of imprisoned Japanese-Americans.

NPR: NYU Exhibits 'Yellow Peril' Collection

Among them was artist Henry Sugimoto, his wife and their young daughter.

NPR: NYU Exhibits 'Yellow Peril' Collection

Fred Alger, an investment-management firm that also had offices in the North tower, lost a collection of photographs by trendy artists such as Cindy Sherman and Hiroshi Sugimoto.

ECONOMIST: Art insurance

Maki Sugimoto, a surgeon at Japan's Kobe University Hospital who began using replicas of patients' organs for navigation purposes in 2011, employs Japanese company Fasotec Co. to produce the 3-D models.

WSJ: Next to Use 3-D Printing: Your Surgeon