A new designed customised facial cleft implant based on rapid prototyping method

Abstract

Each year, something about 1 million skeletal defects are reported which are in need of bone-grafting to be cured. In both US and EU, the population is getting older and so the probability of bone fractures is increased, while dealing with this would have lots of social and economical effects. Bone grafts can be both autologous and autogenous or as an alternative, be made of metals, polymers, ceramics or composite materials. In the maxillofacial problems, which can cause more than 300 malfunctions and malformations in the body, such as dental abnormalities, nasal (and so breath) problems, digesting problems (chewing and swallowing), problems in speech and hear, problems dealing with beauty and emotions, and also economical problems. To handle these, two solutions exist, including surgical approach and non-surgical approach. In the first method, one should wait until the end of bone growth ages, and for the second, due to the need of wearing prosthesis, modifications of the prosthesis is essential as child grows. é 2010 International Federation for Medical and Biological Engineering.