A Novel Method to Calculate the Volume of Alveolar Cleft Defect Before Surgery

Area of Science:

• Craniofacial Surgery
• Medical Imaging Analysis
• Surgical Planning

Background:

• Alveolar cleft defects require precise volume assessment for successful surgical repair.
• Accurate preoperative defect volume estimation is crucial for graft selection and surgical planning.

Purpose of the Study:

• To evaluate a novel subtractive method for precise calculation of alveolar cleft defect volume.
• To assess the efficacy of the Mimics software in conjunction with this new method.

Main Methods:

• Ten patients with unilateral alveolar cleft (age 8-12 years) underwent helical computed tomography scans.
• A new subtractive method using Mimics software was applied to calculate defect volumes from DICOM data.
• Statistical analyses included Pearson's correlation and t-tests.

Main Results:

• The mean alveolar cleft defect volume was 1811.97 ± 817.90 mm³.
• The average calculation time for defect volume was 60.60 ± 11.67 minutes.
• A poor correlation (r=0.38, P=0.279) was found between defect volume and calculation time.

Conclusions:

• The novel subtractive method provides accurate preoperative estimation of graft volume for alveolar cleft repair.
• This method is time-saving, cost-effective, and suitable for both unilateral and bilateral clefts.
• It enables surgeons to design patient-specific surgical plans efficiently before surgery.