Augmented patient-specific facial prosthesis production using medical imaging modelling and 3D printing technologies for improved patient outcomes

Facial prosthetic offer patients a low risk and high impact treatment option to address underlying facial defects. Such devices are generally handmade, requiring several labour-intensive manufacturing phases and numerous patient consultations to develop the final device. Therefore, production is a time-consuming and costly process with significant inconvenience to the patient and highly dependent on the skills of the prosthetists, making the whole process highly subjective. We investigate the potential of medical imaging, 3D design modelling and high-resolution 3D printing to augment the production of an auricular prosthesis for a patient who was previously using a handmade prosthesis. We reproduce the patient’s uncompromised anatomy from CT scan data, before printing a mirrored template to use in the casting process for a silicone prosthesis. This technique realises a superior end prosthesis with a realistic look on the patient while streamlining the current production methodology.