UK 3D printing specialist Renishaw has supplied additive manufactured guides to help a surgical procedure to reshape a patient’s face in Cardiff, Wales.
Working with Abertawe Bro Morgannwg University Health Board's Maxillofacial Unit at Morriston Hospital and the National Centre for Product Design and Development Research (PDR) at Cardiff Metropolitan University, Renishaw supplied the cutting and placement guides which were 3D printed in cobalt chrome alloy on a Renishaw AM250 additive manufacturing machine.
Soft tissue incisions and bone positioning can involve freehand incisions making this type of surgery more complex than perhaps it might otherwise be and with less predictable outcomes, the company says. The 3D printed custome made surgical guides were created to overcome this.
The cutting guide was used to cut the zygomatic (cheek) bone, in specific locations, so the bone sections could be used in a cheek reconstruction. The repositioning guide allowed the bone sections to be placed in their final location before placing a zygomatic implant and orbital floor. The titanium implants, printed in Belgium, remained in place once the guides were removed.
This story is reprinted from material from Renishaw, with editorial changes made by Materials Today. The views expressed in this article do not necessarily represent those of Elsevier.
