Interactive reconstructions of cranial 3D implants under MeVisLab as an alternative to commercial planning software

TL;DR

This paper presents an interactive, open-source MeVisLab-based workflow for designing cranial 3D implants, offering a customizable alternative to commercial software for medical planning and 3D printing.

Contribution

The authors developed a MeVisLab prototype with a custom C++ module for cranial implant design, demonstrating its effectiveness as a flexible alternative to commercial solutions.

Findings

Successfully created a workflow guiding implant design from imaging to 3D printing.

Produced well-fitting, aesthetic cranial implants suitable for pre-surgical evaluation.

Showed that open-source tools can replace commercial software in clinical workflows.

Abstract

In this publication, the interactive planning and reconstruction of cranial 3D Implants under the medical prototyping platform MeVisLab as alternative to commercial planning software is introduced. In doing so, a MeVisLab prototype consisting of a customized data-flow network and an own C++ module was set up. As a result, the Computer-Aided Design (CAD) software prototype guides a user through the whole workflow to generate an implant. Therefore, the workflow begins with loading and mirroring the patients head for an initial curvature of the implant. Then, the user can perform an additional Laplacian smoothing, followed by a Delaunay triangulation. The result is an aesthetic looking and well-fitting 3D implant, which can be stored in a CAD file format, e.g. STereoLithography (STL), for 3D printing. The 3D printed implant can finally be used for an in-depth pre-surgical evaluation or even as a real implant for the patient. In a nutshell, our research and development shows that a customized MeVisLab software prototype can be used as an alternative to complex commercial planning software, which may also not be available in every clinic. Finally, not to conform ourselves directly to available commercial software and look for other options that might improve the workflow.