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Updated: Oct 13, 2025
3D Planning and Printing of Patient Specific Implants for Reconstruction of Bony Defects
Published on: August 4, 2020
Efficacy of 3D-Printed Titanium Mesh-Type Patient-Specific Implant for Cranioplasty
Hong-Gyu Yoon1, Yong Ko1, Young-Soo Kim1
1Department of Neurosurgery, College of Medicine, Hanyang University, Seoul, Korea.
Objective:
Autologous bone grafting for cranioplasty is associated with a high infection rate and bone absorption. Synthetic implant materials for cranioplasty have been developed. In this study, we evaluated the efficacy of titanium mesh-type patient-specific implants (PSIs) for patients with skull defects using the dice similarity coefficient (DSC), clinical outcomes, and artifacts caused by implants.
Methods:
This retrospective study included 40 patients who underwent cranioplasty with a titanium mesh PSI at our institution. Based on preoperative and postoperative computed tomography scans, we calculated DSC and artifacts.
Results:
The calculated DSC of 40 patients was 0.75, and the noise was 13.89% higher in the region of interest (ROI) near the implanted side (average, 7.64 hounsfield unit [HU]±2.62) than in the normal bone (average, 6.72 HU±2.35). However, the image signal-to-noise ratio did not significantly differ between the ROI near the implanted side (4.77±1.78) and normal bone (4.97±1.88). The patients showed no significant perioperative complications that required a secondary operation.
Conclusion:
Titanium mesh-type PSIs for cranioplasty have excellent DSC values with lower artifacts and complication rates.
