Method for Rapidly Fabricating Custom, Patient-Specific Devices Used for Planning & Performing Medical Procedures

Enables Precise Targeting for Diagnostic Imaging, Therapeutics, or Placement of Medical Hardware

Many therapeutic, as well as diagnostic, procedures require the identification of a region of the patient anatomy for targeting. Such procedures may include a biopsy, placement of a shunt catheter, craniotomies, selection of a region for diagnostic imaging, or selection of a path for safe and effective placement of medical hardware (screws, pins, etc). Current methods in planning either a diagnostic or therapeutic procedure are largely dependent on the individual clinician's experience and expertise. University of Florida researchers have developed a new method for rapidly fabricating custom, patient-specific devices used to accurately plan and perform these delicate medical procedures.

Applications

Instrumentation for guiding patient-specific medical procedures

Advantages

• Does not require guidance computers or tracking devices during the procedure
• Saves the clinician valuable time by eliminating intra-operative registration procedures
• Provides customized solutions for each new patient, thereby increasing the effectiveness of each procedure
• Stores and recalls past successful approaches, reducing the reliance on an individual clinician's expertise

Technology

University of Florida researchers' new method of fabricating custom, patient-specific devices incorporates the use of rapid prototyping technology. The anatomy of a patient to be treated is scanned to provide reference scan data. A custom device design is then adapted for the patient by adjusting (through a rigid or non-rigid deformation) the anatomy of a standard anatomic specimen to match the anatomy of the patient. The technology does not require any prescan preparation such as placement of screws or reference pins or fiducials.efficiency, which is much needed in today's wireless ad hoc network design.