Surgical Treatment of Craniosynostosis Based on a Statistical 3D Shape Model: First Clinical Application

Abstract

Surgical intervention in cases of craniosynostosis often lacks objective criteria for the reshaping process of the skull. The application of a statistical 3D-shape model of the upper skull may provide an objective, yet patient-specific guidance for the remodelling. To this end, a statistical 3D-shape model of the upper skull is generated from a set of 21 MRI data sets of healthy infants. Usually, no pre-operative MRI scan is available for the infant patients, hence the matching of the model towards the pathological skull of the patient is performed on the basis of anthropometric distances. Results from the first clinical use of the proposed technique are presented.

Hans Lamecker

Director, Software Development

Advancing 3D analysis, planning, design and manufacturing using innovative computational methods and tools