Speaker
Description
Cranial deficits are usually caused as a result of surgery and require repair through cranioplasty in order to protect the underlying brain tissue. Advances in 3D-printing technologies allow to move towards patient-specific solutions in cranioplasty. In this study, we exploit two 3D-printing approaches based on stereolithography (SLA), which is proved to be more accurate in comparison to the most commonly used method of fused filament fabrication. The outcome is examined for its efficacy in personalized cranioplasty using reconstructed digital models from medical CT scan data (Fig.1). The medical data, from a patient with a large size of cranial deficit, were obtained from the General Hospital of Chania, Greece.
In the first method, the designed 3D cranial implant, is transferred to a SLA 3D printer and a real polymeric object is formed as an exact replica of the designed model. The 3D-printed part serves as the mold negative of the final cranial implant. This object is post-processed and validated for its dimensional accuracy using a 3D-printed replica of the defected area of patient’s skull. A medical grade silicone forms the mold and the bone cement is casted. This material is clinically-approved and is based on poly(methyl methacrylate). In the second method, the reconstructed digital model incorporates the remaining skull together with the cavity that replicates the inner surface where the implant will be placed. Then, this model is 3D-printed using SLA and serves as the direct mold. The clinically-approved biomaterial is casted in the printed cavity, where special attention is taken in the demolding process. In both cases, the accuracy of the casted biomaterials is compared using reverse engineering. The next step is the clinical validation of the fabricated cranial vault derived from the aforementioned additive manufacturing approaches.
| Speaker Country | Greece |
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