3D MEDICAL PROTOTYPING IN HIP SURGERY

SOUTH INDIA’S FIRST RAPID 3D MEDICAL PROTOTYPING IN HIP SURGERY

-A new – Age innovation proves to be a great benefit to patients-

• South India’s first 3D – Rapid Medical Prototyping proves to be a boon for surgeons and patients
• 3 patients with complex hip socket (acetabular) defects from Chandigarh, Pondicherry and Trichy undergo this complex surgery

October 06, 2015, Chennai : Patients sustaining major fractures of the hip socket or having failed hip replacements frequently develop pain due to major bone loss, tissue damage and socket irregularity. This requires a hip replacement to be done in the altered anatomy which is a very challenging task for joint replacement surgeons.

Till recently doctors were constrained to undertake the surgery with a ‘Mental Image’ of the defective pelvis based on CT scans. This resulted in surgeons trying out various options during the surgery by trial and error before deciding the type of reconstruction. Needless to say Surgeons often found the defects to be too extensive during surgery and hence had to abandon reconstruction completely.

Speaking on the occasion Hon’ble Prof. Sridhar, Pro Vice Chancellor, SRM University said “The Institute of Orthopaedic at SIMS (AJRI), Vadaplani is strategically focused to provide technologically superior care for patients with complex orthopaedic problems. As a step in providing zero error surgeries, we have installed Rapid 3D medical prototyping facility at SIMS-AJRI.”

He further added, “Recently three patients with complex hip socket (acetabular) defects from Chandigarh, Pondicherry and Trichy respectively were referred to SIMS-AJRI as the treating surgeons elsewhere were unsure as to whether these grossly damaged pelvises could ever be reconstructed. At the newly installed in- house Rapid 3D medical prototyping facility at SIMS-AJRI which is the first of its kind in South India, medical models of the pelvic bones of these three patients were printed. Joint reconstructive surgeons then rehearsed the entire surgery on the 3D models which were exact replicas of the patient’s pelvis and were able to chart out a definite plan with regard to

1. Size and orientation of the artificial socket
2. Direction and length of screws to hold the socket
3. Position of metal augment
4. Need for bone graft or supplemental plates.

This translated into a huge improvement in the accuracy and safety of the surgical procedure with lessened operative time. This technology also enables more minimally invasive techniques with lesser pain and faster rehab.”

This new technology of 3D – Rapid Medical Prototyping is proving to be a boon for surgeons and patients as it helps the surgeon to rehearse the surgery before the actual operation. The surgery for the 3 patients who had the prototyping was exceptionally successful and they are all making a good recovery.

As an initial step DICOM images of the pelvis are made using CT scans. The further software steps required are image segmentation, 3D Reconstruction and creation of STL files. These STL files are fed into a very sophisticated medical grade 3D printer which prints this 3D – Medical Model.   An orthopaedic surgeon trained in these software applications is crucial to create the medical grade 3D prototype with sub millimeter correlation to the patient’s pelvis.

To take this technology further the next step for surgeons would be print customized implants specific to the patient’s anatomy. Work has already started in this regard in SIMS – AJRI

About SRM Group:

SRM Group well-known for their educational forays as part of their growth, the Group has now started SIMS a 345-bed corporate hospital at Vadapalani, Chennai which has the complete spectrum of Medical Services.  Each Institute has all relevant sub specialties under its fold.