How 3D Scanners Can Be Used In Medicine

A man slowly walks around a woman and scans her with a handheld scanner. The man is called Alexander Gorodetsky and is a mechanical designer with a lot of experience. The woman's name is Olga, she is an extreme sportswoman and has survived a serious accident: a failed skydiving jump. The Russian injured her leg so badly that she lost most of the muscle tissue and now has to live with a deformed right lower leg.

Now a prosthesis is to be specially adapted to her leg using the 3D scanner - which is why Alexander Gorodetsky scans both legs with the hand-held 3D scanner Artec Eva. At the end of the process, the prosthesis on the injured leg should look just as realistic as the healthy leg, offer great comfort and make life better. The scanner calculates in real time a high-resolution 3D model of the object with up to 16 frames per second. 3D modeler Valery Karaoglanyan then comes into play - he models the prosthesis based on the scan of the healthy leg and the scan of the injured leg. After completing the 3D model of the calf muscle, the cosmetic prosthesis is created using a 3D printer.

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A second face

3D scanners can also be used for the face. For example, before cosmetic surgery, patients can receive a lifelike 3D model of their new face. At least that's with Dr. Avşar possible in Istanbul. With the 3D hand scanner, the doctor is the first plastic surgeon in the world to show his patients individual face masks that anticipate the result of the procedure.

It can help those affected to see the result in advance. This enables patients to better assess the result of the operation and realistically assess the possibilities and limits of the procedure. Doctors can use the mask as a three-dimensional reference tool. In front of the 3D hand scanner, Dr. Avşar the masks themselves - but by hand. A tedious job that took a lot of time. In addition, the handmade models often lacked such important details as color and texture.

3D printed ear helps with the operation

Another example from medicine: The girl Ellie has a congenital malformation on the elastic cartilage of the ear, technical term: microtia. In some sufferers, the pinna can be so small that it doesn't seem to be there at all. The result is hearing loss. With the 3D scan of the ear, Ken Stewart, head of the local "Ear Reconstruction Service of Scotland" in Edinburgh, can correct ear malformations with the help of a 3D template. Usually both ears are scanned for this - the healthy and the deformed.

If, on the other hand, as in the case of Ellie, there is a bilateral microtia - both ears are affected - the ear of a family member must be scanned. In this case, Ellis sister can help out. The 3D scanner first detects the auricle and then the ear canal. The images are then fused in the computer to create a digital model of the ear. After about three hours of printing, the simulated ears are removed from the 3D printer, cleaned and hardened with UV light. “At the end, the model is sterilized and given directly as a template for the replica in the operating room,” explains Ken Stewart. With the help of advanced 3D visualization technology, surgeons have a different level of precision.

Beak prosthesis for the toucan Grecia

But not only humans can benefit from 3D scanners - animals also get help. Grecia, a toucan from Costa Rica who was abused by young people and lost parts of his upper beak, could hardly believe his luck when he got a new beak thanks to the 3D scanner and printer. Due to the loss of its beak, the bird could hardly eat any more and had to be fed - sooner or later it would have starved to death without a prosthesis.

The loss also troubled him mentally: the females looked at him crookedly, he felt like an outsider. Ultimately, the scientists opted for a nylon prosthesis that has to be fixed every eight to twelve weeks so that it does not fall off. Grecia's life is saved. And he sunbathes again in the interest of the ladies - after all, his beak looks different from that of his competitors. (kj)

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