Author(s)

Terence P. Farias, Fernando Luiz Dias, Bruno Albuquerque Sousa, Mário Sérgio Galvão, Dênio Bispo, Ana Carolina Pastl

Department of Head and Neck Surgery, Brazilian National Cancer Institute, Rio de Janeiro, Brazil;.
Department of Microsurgery Reconstruction, Brazilian National Cancer Institute, Rio de Janeiro, Brazil..

Major resections of bone tumors of the head and neck, owing to their small dimensions and their proximity to the organs in this region, cause important functional and aesthetic problems that significantly compromise patients’ quality of life. Therefore, therapeutic planning should always extend beyond the resection to include functional and aesthetic reconstruction, preferably immediately. Microsurgical reconstruction represents a significant advance, but has not yet been perfected. Rapid prototyping (RP) comes as a new technology for the purpose of assisting the surgeon in the visual and tactile aspects of surgery, providing diagnostic accuracy and increasing the success of surgical planning. The authors demonstrate the technological advances in the manufacture of customized mandibular prostheses with the assistance of RP and practical applications of these methods.

Rapid Prototyping; Bone Tumors; Head Neck Tumors

T. Farias, F. Dias, B. Sousa, M. Galvão, D. Bispo and A. Pastl, "Prototyping: Major Advance in Surgical Planning and Customizing Prostheses in Patients with Bone Tumors of the Head and Neck," International Journal of Clinical Medicine, Vol. 4 No. 7A, 2013, pp. 1-7. doi: 10.4236/ijcm.2013.47A1001.