Scientists are using the engineering technology behind the creation of high-performance aircraft components to design 3-D models for the replacement of delicate and complex facial bones lost to cancer surgery or trauma.
The researchers, combining engineering and plastic surgery expertise, have used a computational technique called topological optimization to design an experimental 3-D structure that can withstand the forces of chewing, facilitate speaking and swallowing, and replace large portions of the facial skeleton. The work is focused on the center of the face, home to the most complicated bony structures in the human head.
