Models Donated By InterPRO Aid Surgery Of Conjoined Twins
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TOP: A view inside the skull model created by InterPRO using rapid prototyping, based on X-rays. ABOVE LEFT: Conjoined twins Maria Teresa and Maria de Jesus Quiej Alvarez, before surgery. ABOVE RIGHT: Dr. Henry Kawamoto with one of the models created by InterPRO. See the news report by WTNH-TV, Channel 8, New Haven CT See the latest update from the Mattel Childrens Hospital at UCLA on the condition of the twins. |
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Without rapid prototyping, say the doctors, the operation would have been much more difficult.
X-rays showed that the girls had separate and complete brains. The arteries that carried oxygenated blood to their brains were also separate, but the veins that drained the blood were interwoven and fed into each other's circulatory systems.
The most complex part of the operation would be to sort out these veins and reroute each girl's blood supply. Since no one had ever undertaken such a complex task, practicing the operation beforehand was deemed to be critical to their success.
This is where rapid prototyping was to play an essential role.
In complex and unusual surgeries, such as cranio-facial reconstruction, surgeons have found that building rapid prototype models of underlying bones and using them to plan procedures can shave hours off the time required for actual operations.
Doctors can practice the techniqes of cutting and reforming complex shapes and devise ways to optimize their time. In some cases, use of rapid prototypes can eliminate the need for exploratory operations altogether.
For such a complex undertaking, the plastic surgeons realized that they needed to practice how to separate the two girls' skulls and plan how they might graft skin to cover their brains once separated.
For the neurosurgeons, physical models would help sort out the maze of interconnected blood vessels. The surgical team was headed by Dr. Henry Kawamoto, director of craniofacial surgery at UCLA.
The models of the girls' skulls were donated by InterPRO.
The operation was a success.