[Rapid prototyping and bone reconstruction].Ann Chir Plast Esthet. 1999 Oct; 44(5):515-24.AC
The authors describe the main techniques for rapid prototyping used in the medical field, with particular emphasis on Laser stereolithography. They describe the basics of the technique as well as the procedures they currently use to construct anatomic specimens from scanned images. For more than 10 years, the targets of researchers in the field of bone reconstruction in craniofacial surgery have been: to design a system to acquire data directly from CT-scans, to optimize modelling, processing and materials, to verify the possibility of producing prefabricated prostheses with data from preoperative models (22 cases). The target of integrating this technique into therapeutic protocols has been reached. The current trend in research is to produce prostheses from biocompatible materials directly from CT scan data by Laser stereolithography.