Three-Dimensional Printing and Navigation in Bone Tumor Resection

Abstract

One of the most promising advances raised by the current computer age is performing research in silico, which means computer-assisted. The objective of this chapter is firstly to evaluate if a 3D in-silico model of an oncological patient could be used to makea 3D-printed prototype in real scale, discriminating precisely healthy tissues, tumoral tissues and oncological margins. Secondly, the objective is to evaluate if this prototype could be representative enough to allow testing osteotomies under navigated guidance based on images. A tumor resection for a patient with diagnosed metaphyseal osteosarcoma of the proximal tibia was transferred into a rapid prototyping model, fabricated using 3D printing and representing different structures in different colors. The planned osteotomy was executed using Stryker Navigator to guide the cutting saw and the prototype was opened to verify the precision of the performed osteotomy.Both osteotomy planes showed successful correspondence with the safe margin, with a maximum error of 1 mm. The application of these techniques in general orthopedics would help to reduce the incidence of unforeseen intraoperative failures, contributing to obtain predictable surgical procedures. This would implement a new way of performing development,research and training in orthopedics and traumatology by in-silico technology.