Biomaterial Device Makers Reshapes Heads & Lives

When a defect, deformity, or injury alters cranial bones, surgeons need a unique blend of engineering and artistry to return the human face to its former aesthetics. patient-specific implants and surgical guides are still primarily made by hand by small labs. Labs cut, grind and manually shape surgical guides and implants that must be iteratively fitted to the patient

Once engineers determined the final skull shape, Freeform helped TPC design a surgical template for the surgeon to guide the bone cuts for the ideal skull shape. The surgeon actually lays a patient-specific template on top of the bone to guide the cuts.

After surgeon review and approval of the surgical guide, TPC confirmed final placement of the patient-specific template on the skull model and predicted the future shape. The team then used a rapid-prototyping machine to build the disposable template out of an FDA-approved biocompatible resin for the actual surgery.

Gabrielle Giffords, the victim of a gunshot wound to the head. In this patient’s case, the brain’s swelling during the stroke required removing a section of the skull and replacing it with an implant