ADVANCED 3D RAPID PROTOTYPING BIOMODELING TECHNIQUE FOR KNEE SURGERY

Abstract

Advanced three-dimensional (3D) models have played more and more essential roles in orthopedics surgical interventions. In order to improve the clinical outcomes of knee surgery (KS) including minimally invasive knee surgery (MIKS), the melted extrusion modeling (MEM), a rapid prototyping (RP) technique, was used efficiently to fabricate real life-size 3D physical models of interesting knees. The applications and advantages of the tangible RP-constructed 3D models in KS were elucidated in this study. As a result, better preparation including optimal preoperative planning was made so that KS could be performed in an accurate, safe and fast manner for each case. Besides, the surgical skills of MIKS were substantially improved. Therefore, the results suggest that KS can benefit much from the advanced 3D modeling technique.