Computer-Aided Craniofacial Surgical Planning Implemented in CAD Software

Abstract

Accurate presurgical planning is imperative for successful cranial surgery. This article introduces a simulation program developed in a computer-aided design environment. The neurocranium is introduced as a mathematical surface, since this is the part on which the actual operation will be performed. The viscerocranium, which serves as reference, is visualized using small triangular surfaces. The development of the program commenced with a classification of the different surgical techniques mentioned in the literature into six basic actions. The use of mathematically described surfaces has the advantage that the program can simulate actions which change the shape of a surface and perform an on-line estimation of the fracture risk during bending. Three-point bending tests were carried out to provide the necessary data to perform the mathematical check, as these data are not available in the literature. A database with reference distances was introduced to guide the surgeon to obtain the best possible results. During one clinical trial, the computer was taken into the operating room so that the surgical plan developed with the simulation program could be applied to the actual operation.

Accuracy assessment of CT-based outer surface femur meshes

“…State-of-the-art CT-based computer-aided bone surgery planning and implant design applications require small-sized STL files of accurate meshes of the bone outer surface [1][2][3][4][5][6][7][8][9]. Unfortunately, such models are not directly available from standard segmentation algorithms (such as the Marching Cubes procedure [24]) since these include inside and outside information into the meshes.…”

“…Computer-aided bone surgery planning and implant design applications require accurate and compact representations of the patient's bone [1][2][3][4][5][6][7][8][9]. The accuracy of bone segmentation from medical images has been studied extensively, with each study using a specific ground truth and a specific type and number of accuracy measurements.…”

Surgical Engineering in Cranio‐Maxillofacial Surgery: A Literature Review

“…Computer-assisted surgery (CAS) planning was implemented in CMF surgery so that the complex anatomy of the patient can be understood, and that the surgical task can be improved preoperatively [19][20][21][22][23][24][25]. Orthognathic surgery represents an important part of CMF surgery and allows for correction of different dental and maxillofacial dysmorphoses, asymmetric faces, or craniofacial syndromes by cutting and moving the maxilla and/or the mandible according to a treatment plan.…”

Recent development on computer aided tissue engineering — a review

“…Modeling simulation is used to manipulate, (1) images generated from CT scans; and (2) mathematical model or CAD-based medical model [151,152]. There are three types of functionality which have to be integrated into the modeling simulation algorithm, (a) the accurate representation of biological structures by the computer modeling; (b) be possible to simulate all surgical actions; and (c) capable of obtaining certain parametric information such as tissue volume and anatomic distances.…”