Title : Strategies of additive manufacturing in cranioplasty
Abstract:
With advances of 3D printing technologies, possibilities to produce patient specific cranioplasty emerged, as an alternative to the use of autologous bone.
In our study, three different strategies were applied exploiting Fused Deposition Modeling (FDM) additive manufacturing, and compared: (i) direct printing of PLA (polylactic Acid) prosthesis, mold casting of Poly(methyl methacrylate) (PMMA) prosthesis using (ii) silicone mold, (iii) Thermoplastic Poly Urethane (TPU).
All the techniques studied returned good results in terms of geometrical accuracy, and cosmetic appearance.
Direct printing of PLA prosthesis resulted the fastest strategy, followed by PMMA casting into silicone mold, and TPU mold, in the order. In terms of costs, TPU mold featured the lowest price, followed by silicone mold, and direct printing of medical-grade PLA skull-cap.
Nevertheless, the definitive choice of procedure still strongly depends on the expertise of the team, facilities available within the hospital structure, and a contingent preference on a specific material over another.
Audience take away:
- To reproduce new TPU molds
- Could be a different mold material for PMMA
- Could be a cheaper material to produce mold