Evaluation of a custom made anatomical guide for orthognathic surgery

  • Elaine Baird

Student thesis: Master's Thesis

Abstract

Orthognathic surgery is a routinely used surgical technique for the correction of dento-facial deformities. During a Le Fort I orthognathic procedure the maxilla is surgically separated from the skull and the surgical positioning wafer is placed between the occlusal surfaces of the upper and lower dentition. However, the physiological response to general aesthesia results in loss of muscle tone in the mandible, which has a profound influence on the correct amount of maxillary advancement required. The expertise and visual judgement of the surgeon is relied upon to foresee and eliminate this potential source of error. However, this may not be possible to achieve in all cases, therefore there is a need for a device to guide the surgical position of the maxilla independent of the mandibular dentition. The aim of this study was to design and validate a custom made anatomical repositioning surgical framework for accurately repositioning the maxilla independently of the mandible during a Le Fort I osteotomy. A single plastic anatomical skull was scanned using a helical Computed Tomography (CT) scanner. Utilising 3D manipulation software, forty-three Le Fort I orthognathic surgery movements were planned. A custom made anatomical repositioning guide was designed and 3D printed for all movements. Each guide was used to reposition the maxilla of the physical skull and then laser scanned using a GOM blue light scanner. GOMinspect software was used to compare the planned and physical position of the repositioned maxilla. The results of the experiment were statistically evaluated.
Date of Award27 Sept 2019
Original languageEnglish
Awarding Institution
  • University Of Strathclyde
SupervisorXiu-Tian Yan (Supervisor) & Jonathan Corney (Supervisor)

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