Researchers Develop 3-D Modeling Based on Aerospace Technologies to Design Facial Bone Replacements

Using engineering technology behind the design of high-performance aircraft components, researchers are developing methods for creating 3-D models that can be used in the replacement of delicate and complex facial bones lost to cancer surgery or trauma.

The researchers from OSU and University of Illinois combined engineering and plastic surgery expertise, to create a computational technique called topological optimization to design an experimental 3-D structure that can withstand the forces of chewing, facilitate speaking and swallowing and replace large portions of the facial skeleton. The work is focused on the center of the face, home to the most complicated bony structures in the human head.

The research was published this week in the Proceedings of the National Academy of Sciences.  Alok Sutradhar, a postdoctoral researcher in plastic surgery at OSU was lead author.  Sutradhar is a trained engineer specializing in 3-D computational modeling with a background in working with multifunctional high-performance lightweight materials used in space shuttle tiles and other aircraft.

“The application of his [Sutradhar’s] expertise to medicine is particularly rare,” said Michael Miller, professor of surgery and director of the division of plastic surgery at Ohio State. “We are not aware of anyone else approaching facial bone defects using these methods.”

“The difference between what is done now and our design is that we take into account all of the loads on the structure.  And this is not a generic shape.  For each person, we could create a patient-specific design,” said Sutradhar.

For more on the story, see the release from OSU