CAD/CAM bilateral ear prostheses construction for Treacher Collins syndrome patients using laser scanning and rapid prototyping

Abstract

Ear defects in patients affected by Treacher Collins syndrome necessitate the replacement of the existing anatomic residuals of the ears with custom-made prostheses. This paper describes a multidisciplinary protocol involving both medicine and computer-aided design/computer-aided manufacturing for manufacturing ear prostheses. Using innovative prototyping technologies together with conventional silicone processing procedures, a step-by-step procedure is presented. The complete workflow includes laser scanning of the defective regions of a patient's face, the use of 3D anatomic models from an ear digital library and rapid prototyping of both substructures for bar anchoring and moulds for silicone processing.

Keywords:

• Treacher Collins syndrome
• ear prostheses
• maxillofacial rehabilitation
• reverse engineering
• computer-aided design
• rapid prototyping

Acknowledgements

The authors want to thank student Vittorio Borromeo for his valuable work.