(woman)
When you say prosthesis,
you think of leg or an arm,
but they don't really
think about the skull.
My name is Jessie San.
I am the case manager
at OsteoSymbionics.
We create
craniofacial implants
for patients who have
been through trauma,
through a motorcycle accident
or a car accident,
or they have gone
through craniotomy
to remove a brain tumor
or an aneurysm,
or they were born
with a certain defect.
They lose a piece
of their skull.
What we have to do then
is design
a prosthesis
or an implant
that fits that part
of the skull that they lost.
The process of creating
a craniofacial implant
starts with
the patient's CT scan.
This is the CT software
that we use
to review the CT scan
from each patient.
Using this software,
we can create
a 3D skull model
of the patient.
So what you see here
on the screen is...
a 3D model
of the patient's skull.
This is what we use
to create the template
and the final implant
for each patient.
We'll create a skull model
from the patient's own CT,
and then I can design
the implant for that patient,
using our digital software.
After we create
a 3D skull model,
I can import the file
into the software,
and using this, I can design
the implant for this patient.
So this is where
science and design meet.
It's the software.
And then afterward,
we'll fabricate and manufacture
the final implant using
a molding and casting process.
So this is what we designed
on the digital software.
We'll create a negative
using this template.
This is a plaster mold.
We do a molding process,
and then what we get is
a negative impression
of the template.
Then we'll go ahead
and fill this mold
with the PMMA material
and put it in the oven
and heat cure the PMMA
so that we get
a positive final implant.
[ding]
Then afterward, we have
technicians in the back,
and they'll fit and
finish a final implant
so that every single one
fits the skull model
before they leave
our facility
to ensure that the surgeon
has a near-perfect fit.
There is an art aspect
to designing these implants
and a science aspect
because everything
has to fit perfectly.
And you have to know
the anatomy, the physiology,
the biology
that's behind each defect
because you have
to tailor each implant
to what the surgeon
and the patient needs.
It's a great way of combining
both art and science.
Funding to purchase and make
this educational production
accessible was provided by the
U.S. Department of Education:
PH: 1-800-USA-LEARN (V)
or WEB: www.ed.gov.
