In house virtual surgery and 3D complex head and neck reconstruction.

BACKGROUND: 3-Dimensional (3D) printing can be applied to virtual planning and creation of surgical guides for mandibular reconstruction. Such systems are becoming increasingly prevalent in head and neck reconstruction. However, third party access to this technology is costly and removes the opportunity to design, create, and modify the bony reconstructions, as third party technology is a black box. This series is a pilot study to document the feasibility of an in-house software tool. The objectives of this study are to describe the design of an automated in house system and assess the accuracy of this in house automated software tool for mandibular reconstruction in a simulated environment.

METHODS: Software was written to automate the preoperative planning and surgical guide creation process. In a simulation lab, Otolaryngology residents were tasked with resecting and reconstructing a simulated mandible using the 3D-printed cutting guides. A control group of residents performed resection and reconstruction using the traditional method without cutting guides. T-test analysis was performed to compare specific aspects of the final reconstructions including: change from native mandibular width and projection, segment gap distance, and reconstruction time.

RESULTS: Mandibular reconstruction was successful in all participants using the 3D printed system. The guided group performed significantly better on the measurement of change in Mandibular overlap, projection, segment gap volume. There was a non-significant trend towards better mandibular width and operative time for the guided group.

CONCLUSIONS: This study confirms functionality and feasibility of using an in house automated software for planning and creating surgical guides.