SensAble Technologies, known for their haptic devices, has announced that its FreeForm 3D modeling software has been used to plan and prepare for a complex facial reconstruction surgery on a five year-old boy. MedCAD, a medical modeling consultancy, worked with physicians from the LEAP Foundation of Dallas to rehearse the procedure using virtual on-screen models and real ones made using a 3D printer.
More details from the comapny:
MedCAD created 3D computer models that showed the location of incisions that created two bony sections, one on either side of the face, that the surgical team would realign closer together around the nose and palate to support a more normal appearance. Using FreeForm, MedCAD could show Dr. Hobar the impact of rotating one of the bony sections in a particular direction, and how it might then interfere with another structure elsewhere in the back and side of the head. He and other surgeons could then virtually adjust the amount of downward movement of that section, or explore other surgical options such as relocating the incisions. After a proposed model was complete, a QuickTime animation was then emailed back and forth among colleagues for their viewing and approval.
Once the team finalized a surgical approach, MedCAD used FreeForm to digitally design custom surgical cutting guides to support the placement of instruments in precisely the right locations, using the patient’s own measurements – instead of manually creating guides to approximate the fit.
Product page: FreeForm Modeling and Modeling Plus Systems …
Press release: SensAble’s FreeForm Enables Virtual Surgical Planning For LEAP Foundation’s Groundbreaking Facial Transformation of 5-Year Old Boy