Digital-Based Engineering Tools for Tailored Design of Medical Implants

Abstract

With the advances in medicine and surgical treatments and the increase of computational tools and technical aids for supporting surgery, preoperative planning has become even more important and required. This technology relies upon digital tools and helps the clinicians to select the implant, to define its exact location and to establish a task outline for the surgery. Using these computational methods, it is also possible to design medical implants targeting a specific patient or clinical scenario. In this work, a three-step methodology for preoperative planning and design patient-specific implants is presented, namely (i) data acquisition and 3-D reconstruction, (ii) 3-D modelling and (iii) implant design. Two distinct case-studies are considered. The former consisted of a triple fracture of the distal femur, being the second case-study related to a maxillofacial deformity due to cancer removal surgery. For sake of pre-validation of the implant design, plastic prototypes were fabricated by using SL-stereolithography techniques. A tailored design of an implant leads to an enhancement on its biofunctionality, as this novel implant properly fits the extant medical need. Furthermore, the implant customization allows for its correct placement, promoting its fixation and longevity. In cases of osteosynthesis, a personalised design avoids the need of deforming the plates during surgery to fit patient’s anatomy.