Affiliations: [a] Cardiff School of Engineering, Cardiff University, Wales, UK | [b] Division of Biomechanics and Engineering Design, K.U. Leuven, Belgium | [c] School of Advanced Technologies, Asian Institute of Technology, Thailand | [d] National Center for Technology Progress, Ministry of Science and Technology, Hanoi, Vietnam | [e] Department of Neurosurgery, Saint Paul Hospital, Hanoi, Vietnam | [f] Department of Neurosurgery, Tran Hung Dao Hospital, Hanoi, Vietnam
Correspondence:
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Address for correspondence: Dr. Le Chi Hieu, Manufacturing Engineering Centre, School of Engineering. Cardiff University, PO Box 925, Newport Road, Cardiff CF24, OYF, Wales, UK. Tel.: +44 29 208 70022; Fax: +44 29 208 74003; E-mail: [email protected].
Abstract: Skull defects are treated by cranioplasty techniques, which are required to protect underlying brain, correct major aesthetic deformities, or both. This research is a part of our research project in ASEAN countries to investigate (i) the methods for design and manufacturing of cranioplasty implants, and (ii) the feasible technical solutions of minimizing the implant cost based on available production and biomaterial technologies in the region. In this paper, solutions for design and manufacturing of standardized implant templates (SDT) are presented. SDT are made based on the reverse engineering and rapid tooling techniques. With the use of SDT, surgeons have flexible options in preparing the implant both pre and intra operatively, and the operation time is minimized. In addition, the skills required to prepare an implant from SDT are not highly required. The cost for cranioplasty treatments by using SDT is acceptable for ASEAN region.
