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Updated: Aug 12, 2026
Building An Open-source Robotic Stereotaxic Instrument
Published on: October 29, 2013
Benefits of stereolithography in orbital reconstruction
1Department of Ophthalmology, Wilford Hall Medical Center, San Antonio, Texas 78236-5300, USA. holck@lafb.af.mil
Objective:
To describe the benefits of the stereolithography (SLA) modeling system in the evaluation and surgical planning of selected bony orbital pathology.
Design:
Two case reports.
Participants:
One patient presented with a displaced left orbital roof fracture into his orbit causing globe compression and binocular vertical diplopia. A second patient underwent removal of his right orbital floor, medial wall, and inferior portion of his lateral wall during excision of a cylindrical cell papilloma of the paranasal sinuses. Postoperatively, he suffered from globe ptosis and binocular oblique diplopia.
Intervention:
Stereolithographic models of the patients' orbits were obtained from computed tomography data to better assess the bony orbital pathology. In the second patient, the model was used as a template to create a temporary custom fit prosthesis to repair the defect of his orbital walls.
Results:
The SLA models were useful in evaluating the dimensions of the bony defects and in preoperative surgical planning. Intraoperatively, the SLA models facilitated orbital surgical rehabilitation. Postoperatively, both patients noted resolution of their diplopia after reconstruction of more normal bony anatomy.
Conclusions:
In selected cases, SLA offers highly accurate models of the bony orbit for preoperative evaluation, surgical planning, and teaching and can act as a template for custom prosthesis manufacturing. This technology increases the orbital surgeon's options in managing complex orbital pathology.
