Abstract
Our purpose is to develop the preoperative diagnosis stage for orthopedic surgical treatments using additive manufacturing technology. Our methods involve fast implementations of an additive manufactured bone model, converted from CAT data, through appropriate software use. Then, additive manufacturing of the formed surfaces through special 3D-printers. With the structural model redesigned and printed in three dimensions, the surgeon is able to look at the printed bone and he can handle it because the model perfectly reproduces the real one upon which he will operate. We found that additive manufacturing models can precisely characterize the anatomical structures of fractures or lesions. The studied practice helps the surgeon to provide a complete preoperative valuation and a correct surgery, with minimized duration and risks. This structural model is also an effective device for communication between doctor and patient.
Highlights
State of the ArtSurgical planning has gone through several phases in the evolutionary history of modern medicine, moving hand in hand with the progress of the technologies available for diagnostic imaging
Following the phases of 3D reconstruction of the bone model and the launch of 3D printing, the models 1:1 were reproduced, in white color, made of PLA thermoplastic material, of the three bone segments that make up the femur
The model has the aim of presenting, from a descriptive point of view, the innovative methodology of 3D-printing in the medical field. If it had been a 3D model to be used for the preparation of surgery, it would have been evaluated in the preoperative planning phase by a group of expert surgeons and by the patient himself
Summary
Surgical planning has gone through several phases in the evolutionary history of modern medicine, moving hand in hand with the progress of the technologies available for diagnostic imaging. Magnetic resonance imaging (MRI) have been achieved. These provide the surgeon with detailed reconstructions of the patient’s anatomy, in collaboration with progress in image processing. Thanks to 3D-printing technology, it is possible to take another step forward, moving from the virtual world to the physical one. 3D-printing was born in the mid-1980’s, only in recent years it has begun to spread in the world, in both surgical and other applications, just like diagnostic ones. While a CNC milling machine uses a subtractive technique in its operation, 3D-printing is based on an additive manufacturing process that can create objects by adding material layer by layer by using an extruder that uses polymers of various selected materials
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