The feasibility of producing patient-specific acrylic cranioplasty implants with a low-cost 3D printer
- 1 May 2016
- journal article
- Published by Journal of Neurosurgery Publishing Group (JNSPG) in Journal of Neurosurgery
- Vol. 124 (5), 1531-1537
- https://doi.org/10.3171/2015.5.jns15119
Abstract
OBJECT Commercially available, preformed patient-specific cranioplasty implants are anatomically accurate but costly. Acrylic bone cement is a commonly used alternative. However, the manual shaping of the bone cement is difficult and may not lead to a satisfactory implant in some cases. The object of this study was to determine the feasibility of fabricating molds using a commercial low-cost 3D printer for the purpose of producing patient-specific acrylic cranioplasty implants. METHODS Using data from a high-resolution brain CT scan of a patient with a calvarial defect posthemicraniectomy, a skull phantom and a mold were generated with computer software and fabricated with the 3D printer using the fused deposition modeling method. The mold was used as a template to shape the acrylic implant, which was formed via a polymerization reaction. The resulting implant was fitted to the skull phantom and the cranial index of symmetry was determined. RESULTS The skull phantom and mold were successfully fabricated w...Keywords
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