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Rapid Prototyping for the Operating Theatre

July 15, 2002

Bonn, July 5, 2002. The technique is tried and tested, and what's more: it is also fast and cost-efficient. That is why manufacturers in the automotive industry and engineering have been using Rapid Prototyping for years to produce prototypes from three-dimensional datasets. The Bonn-based caesar research center has now found new and exciting applications for Rapid Prototyping technologies in the field of medicine. Based on the data of individual patients, caesar creates detailed stereolithographic models designed to help the surgeon in the planning of his operation. At the Euromold in Frankfurt from December 4 to 7, 2002, caesar will present the first concrete results of its research.

Whether or not an operation is successful can largely depend on the way it has been planned. The shorter the surgery, the smaller the risk of unforeseen complications. Rapid Prototyping models of the body sections in need of surgery can help the surgeon to prepare his operation in close detail. If necessary, implants can be fit to size in advance. The stereolithographic models are transparent, allowing interior structures such as vessels and nerves to be visualized through coloring.

And this is how it works. With the help of the software platform Julius, also developed by a caesar working group, two-dimensional computer tomography (CT) cross-sections of the patient are converted into a three-dimensional computer model. Segmenting techniques allow different structures (bones, cartilage, blood vessels, nerves etc.) to be read and recognized as such and subsequently marked in different colors. Now the dataset for the Rapid Prototyping process can be prepared, and a plastic model is built up, layer by layer, based on the data of the patient. Details can be represented with an accuracy of down to 0.02 mm. A combination of Rapid Prototyping and other processes (such as vacuum casting) enables the realistic representation of soft tissue body areas, too. The finished model can be sterilized and brought to the operating room.

Currently, caesar is busy refining the data transfer procedure and the process preparations as well as the technique of coloring individual structures. Different types of tissue are represented by different shades of color. This can be particularly useful in cancer surgery, for instance: tumor tissue can be clearly distinguished from healthy tissue by providing it with a different color. Other projects include the making of customized implants from bone substitutes and of three-dimensional scaffolds for tissue engineering.

The international caesar research center (center of advanced european studies and research) was established in Bonn in 1998. The center has quickly grown to employ currently more than 130 scientists in interdisciplinary teams who conduct research in the fields of communication ergonomics / computer-aided surgery, material sciences / nanotechnology and biotechnology. Research and industrial applications are engaged in a mutually beneficial partnership: caesar is developing innovative products and processes while assisting scientists to establish spin-off companies.

Caesar

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