New Technology Will Allow Complex Facial Reconstruction with Bone Transplants
Monday, July 12th, 2010, 5:18 pmThe world of reconstructive surgery is constantly evolving, and a lot of that can be attributed to new developing technologies and improvements in modern medicine. Recently in the news there’s been a lot of discussion about facial reconstructive surgeries, and while these procedures have come a long way and seem to be drastically improving lives, there’s still one aspect that’s been lacking that could take the quality of the surgery to the next level.
When an individual has damaged facial bones that need to be replaced by transplant, there can be limitations when they cannot be customized to the specific need and function. This means that people might not be able to regain full use of certain functions following surgery, inhibiting their ability to talk, eat, drink or even swallow even when reconstructive procedures have greatly improved their well-being.
Now to improve just how well certain bone facial reconstruction surgeries allow patients to regain function, there is research being conducted into the use of technologies previously reserved for architecture. Down the road, plastic surgeons may be able to use this topology optimization to design 3D structures (i.e. the facial components to be reconstructed) and ensure that even the tiniest aspects are considered in the design. This technology will take into consideration blood flow, soft tissue support needed for functions like chewing, and the construction of the sinus passages to ensure that the facial reconstruction gives each patient a fully operable face that works exactly with their anatomy.
Currently, plastic surgeons rely upon tissue and bone fragments taken from other parts of a patient’s body to rebuild compromised facial structures, and while it can make a huge difference in terms of their appearance and facial function, this takes things further continuing the evolution of the plastic surgery field to further change the lives of patients who likely once thought they’d be living with disfigurement or decreased facial function for the rest of their lives.
It might sound like science fiction, but it’s the way medicine is heading. With this happening today, we can only begin to imagine what might be possible further into the future.
Tags: 3D technology and plastic surgery, Admire Plastic Surgery, medical evolution, new developments in medicine, plastic surgery and reconstruction, Plastic Surgery News, reconstructive facial surgery, returning facial functions through plastic surgery, topology optimization and plastic surgery
Category: Plastic Surgery News
