Cad Cam Technology now extending to other medical areas.
Recently an 83 year old woman of Belgian decent suffering from severe osteomyelitis had most of her lower mandible destroyed by the infection. In a world first the Biomed team operating from the university of Hasselt Belgium constructed a new mandible by using MRI scanning that was then fed into a specialised 3D printer which recreated her jawbone from a coated biocompatible ceramic layer.
No detail was spared the implant had dimples and cavities needed to allow muscle attachment and nerves to pass through plus various support structures for doing dental implants.
The 4 hour operation taken place last June has allowed the patient to speak and now swallow normally. Operation leader Jules Poukens said the operation appeared so far quite successful. The implant was a mix of Titanium and covered in a specialized ceramic layer for biocompatibility.
