Medical Rapid Prototyping Technologies: State of the Art and Current Limitations for Application in Oral and Maxillofacial Surgery

doi:10.1016/j.joms.2005.03.016

Journal of Oral and Maxillofacial Surgery

Volume 63, Issue 7, July 2005, Pages 1006-1015

https://doi.org/10.1016/j.joms.2005.03.016 Get rights and content

Purpose

We describe state-of-the-art software and hardware requirements for the manufacture of high quality medical models manufactured using medical rapid prototyping. The limitations of medical models, the source of artefacts, and their physical appearance are illustrated along with remedies for their removal.

Materials and Methods

Medical models were built using predominantly stereolithography and fused deposition modeling at both institutions over a period of 6 years. A combined total of 350 models have been produced for a range of maxillofacial, neurosurgical, and orthopedic applications. Stereolithography, fused deposition modeling, computerized numerical milling, and other technologies are described along with computer software requirements.

Results

A range of unwanted artefacts that create distortions on medical models have been identified. These include data import, computed tomography gantry distortion, metal, motion, surface roughness due to support structure removal or surface modeling, and image data thresholding. The source of the artefact has been related to the patient, imaging modality performance, or the modeling technology. Discussion as to the significance of the artefacts on clinical use is provided.

Conclusions

It is recommended that models of human anatomy generated by medical rapid prototyping are subject to rigorous quality assurance at all stages of the manufacturing process. Clinicians should be aware of potential areas for inaccuracies within models and review the source images in cases where model integrity is in doubt.

Section snippets

3D Image Acquisition and Processing for MRP

The volumetric or 3D image data required for MRP models has certain particular requirements. Specialized CT scanning protocols are required to generate a volume of data that are isotropic in nature. This means that the 3 physical dimensions of the voxels (image volume elements) are equal or nearly equal. This has become achievable with the introduction of multislice CT scanners where in-plane pixel size is of the order of 0.5 mm and slice thickness is as low as 1.0 mm.²¹ Data interpolation is

Rapid Prototyping Technology

Rapid prototyping is a generic name given to a range of related technologies that may be used to fabricate physical objects directly from CAD data sources. RP enables the design and manufacturing of models to be performed much more quickly than do conventional manual methods of prototyping. In all aspects of manufacture, the speed of moving from concept to product is an important part of making a product commercially competitive. RP technologies enable an engineer to produce a working prototype

Discussion of MRP Technologies

The main factors in choosing which RP technology is most appropriate for our clinical applications were as follows:

•
Dimensional accuracy of the models
•
Overall cost of the model
•
Availability of technology
•
Model building material

SL models are typically colorless to amber in color, transparent, and of sufficient accuracy to be suitable for MRP work. FDM models are typically made of white ABS and attractive in terms of both appearance and material. It has been pointed out that medical models may be

Medical Rapid Prototyped Model Artefacts

Associated with all medical imaging equipment are unusual or unexpected image appearances referred to as artefacts. Some imaging modalities are prone to geometric distortion like magnetic resonance imaging,²⁷ and this should be accounted for in soft tissue models manufactured from this source. CT does not have the same distortion as magnetic resonance imaging, and models produced from this source have proved to be dimensionally accurate.²⁸ In some circumstances, artefacts are easily

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Current therapyMedical Rapid Prototyping Technologies: State of the Art and Current Limitations for Application in Oral and Maxillofacial Surgery

Purpose

Materials and Methods

Results

Conclusions

Section snippets

3D Image Acquisition and Processing for MRP

Rapid Prototyping Technology

Discussion of MRP Technologies

Medical Rapid Prototyped Model Artefacts

Br J Plast Surg

Br J Oral Maxillofac Surg

J Craniomaxillofac Surg

J Oral Maxillofac Surg

Int J Oral Maxillofac Surg

Br J Oral Maxillofac Surg

Int J Oral Maxillofac Surg

Med Eng Phys

J Arthrop

J Prosthet Dent

Comput Med Imaging Graphics

Eur J Radiol

Med Eng Physics

Int J Oral Maxillofac Surg

Magn Reson Imaging

Int J Med Inf

Current therapy
Medical Rapid Prototyping Technologies: State of the Art and Current Limitations for Application in Oral and Maxillofacial Surgery