A Procedure for Designing Custom-Made Implants for Forehead Augmentation in People Suffering from Apert Syndrome

Area of Science:

• Craniofacial surgery
• Biomedical engineering
• Medical imaging

Background:

• Apert syndrome often results in frontal bone deficiency, necessitating reconstructive surgery.
• Current methods for custom implant design can be complex and time-consuming.

Purpose of the Study:

• To present a new methodological procedure for designing patient-specific implants for forehead augmentation in Apert syndrome.
• To utilize anatomical reconstruction and constrained deformation for accurate implant modeling.

Main Methods:

• Applied anthropometric theory and cranial landmark identification for reference skull selection.
• Employed constrained deformation and free-form modeling for patient-specific implant design.
• 3D printing and comparison with a surgeon-crafted model to validate accuracy.

Main Results:

• Developed a reproducible methodology for custom implant design.
• Virtual modeling and 3D printing of three implants for pre-surgical evaluation.
• Negligible deviations between designed implants and the reference model, meeting surgical requirements.

Conclusions:

• The proposed method effectively designs accurate, custom-made implants for forehead reconstruction in Apert syndrome.
• This approach offers a reliable solution for addressing frontal bone deficiencies with patient-specific implants.