by Julie Reece, Mcor Technologies Ltd.
“With each procedure, we easily win an hour in the operating room, and that’s a major benefit for the patient.” -Professor Raphael Olszewski, a surgeon and head of the university’s oral and maxillofacial surgery research lab (OMFS Lab, UCL)
Challenge: Shortening Surgical Time
Time is critical when a patient is undergoing surgery. The longer the patient’s internal tissue is exposed, the greater the risk. When a patient can be quickly closed up and begin recovery, chances are greater for a healthy recovery.
These concerns are on the minds of maxillofacial surgeons at the Cliniques universitaires saint Luc, Université catholique de Louvain (UCL) in Belgium, who often need to reconstruct bones in a patient’s skull, such as a jaw ravaged by cancer or an eye socket crushed in a car accident.
Strategy: 3D Printing Physical Bone Models
The surgeons employ paper 3D printing technology from Mcor Technologies to recoup hours from traditional surgical procedures. Working from the digitally scanned contours of patients’ bones, doctors push a button to create full-size 3D physical models they can use as surgical guides.
Since the model is a facsimile of the patient’s actual physiology, surgeons can use it to precisely shape metal inserts that fit along a patient’s residual bone. The insert might be a plate that supports a damaged mandible or a titanium mesh for reconstructing a damaged eye socket. Without 3D physical models to work from, surgeons would be forced to rely on time-consuming trial and error to shape the metal implants and risk potential tissue damage.
Results: Better Outcomes, Time and Cost Savings
“With each procedure, we easily win an hour in the operating room, and that’s a major benefit for the patient,” says Professor Raphael Olszewski, a surgeon and head of the university’s oral and maxillofacial surgery research lab (OMFS Lab, UCL). “We open the patient up, slide in the device, check the fit, and start the patient’s recovery.”
The 3D physical skull and mandible models are produced by an Mcor Matrix paper-based 3D printer. To create a 3D model, Olszewski’s team takes a CT or cone-beam CT scan of the patient and uses Maxilim software to export the section of bone they’re interested in. They quickly transform the 3D file into a printable, watertight solid and print the bone model with ease.
Making a Change
The team purchased the Mcor 3D printer after five years of using a ZPrinter (resin powder-based 3D printer). The ZPrinter produced more costly models and required an extensive post-processing step that employed toxic chemicals (cyanoacrylate). The chemicals required a special license to handle and a special room for the post-processing. Olszewski’s team finds the chemicals incompatible with education and healthcare.
“We went looking for an eco-friendly solution and found Mcor,” says Olszewski. Mcor 3D printers are the only ones that create models from paper (standard Letter/A4 sheets). When the sheets are cut and bound together, the model is tough, durable and stable – no infiltration is required. After use, models can be disposed of in the recycling bin for cradle-to-grave sustainability.
Mcor 3D printers employ water-based adhesive – no toxic fumes, lasers, airborne powder or toxic resins – enabling the machine to easily co-exist in an office or classroom. Part cost is 5 percent of other technologies’ costs, and total cost of Mcor ownership is a fraction of that of the competition.
Olszewski estimates that a model made with Mcor costs about half that of the ZPrinter and about one-tenth that of stereolithography. With Olszewski’s team making models every day, that’s a savings of more than 20,000 € per year.
The Future
“The Mcor 3D printer gives us a really affordable 3D model that opens up a great many possibilities for 3D modelling in maxillofacial surgery,” says Olszewski.
In addition to creating models of surgical patients, Olszewski’s team creates models for the lab. The team is constantly refining its processes so that surgical guide use is increasingly precise. One way the team does this is by CT scanning models and superimposing the images on CT scans of patients. This way, the team can gauge the accuracy of modelling and improve the success of the surgeries. The ease and affordability of producing 3D physical skull models is enabling Olszewski’s team to constantly expand the range of procedures that can be accelerated using 3D printed surgical guides.
Though powerful, the Mcor 3D printer is surprisingly intuitive, notes Olszewski, even for busy surgeons who need to constantly focus on their craft. The team has also discovered that Mcor models, though paper, can be sterilised. That means surgeons will soon be bringing them into the operating room. As 3D printing’s role quickly evolves, Olszewski sees 3D printing as a powerful, affordable and accessible alternative to highly expensive neuronavigation systems that ensure accuracy in surgery.
“There are many potential applications in medicine for Mcor’s affordable and eco-friendly process,” says Olszewski. “Look for 3D paper printing not only in surgery, but in medical equipment engineering and biomedical engineering. We’re really at the beginning.”
About Mcor Technologies Ltd.
Mcor Technologies Ltd is an innovative manufacturer of the world’s most affordable, full-colour and eco-friendly 3D printers. They are the only 3D printers to use ordinary business-letter paper as the build material, a choice that renders durable, stable and tactile models.
Established in 2004 with a talented team of specialists in the area of 3D printing, software and CAD/CAM, Mcor’s vision is to make 3D printing more accessible to everyone. The company operates internationally from offices in Ireland, the UK and America. www.mcortechnologies.com.
Mcor Technologies
Unit 1, IDA Business Park Ardee Road,
Dunleer, Co. Louth, Ireland
+353 41 6862800
United States
189 W. Santa Clara St.
San Jose, CA 95113
USA +1 770 619 9972
Contacts
Deirdre MacCormack
Mcor Technologies Ltd
Tel: + 353 (0) 41 6862800
deirdre@mcortechnologies.com
Julie Reece
Mcor Technologies Ltd
Tel: + 1 781 718 0250
jreece@mcortechnologies.com
