The Clinical and Translational Science Center (CTSC) of Weill Cornell Medical College has named Dr. Antonio Bernardo the winner of the 2014-15 3D Printing Novel Technology Award. The purpose of the award is to encourage the development of novel biomedical products using three-dimensional printing technology. Dr. Bernardo and his co-investigator, Alex Evins, will use the $10,000 award to investigate the feasibility of creating on-demand intra-operative cranial prostheses.
Currently, patients undergoing routine procedures that require removal of part of the skull, or who suffer traumatic injury to the cranium, must wait several weeks for a custom prosthesis to be manufactured, then must undergo additional surgery weeks later to have that prosthesis implanted. In this project, Dr. Bernardo will test the possibility of printing, sterilizing, and implanting accurate cranial prostheses in cadavers.
The investigation will take place in the state-of-the-art training facility at the Weill Cornell Surgical Innovations Laboratory, at the Citigroup Biomedical Imaging Center (CBIC), and in the CTSC 3D Printing Core Facility. Two cadaveric specimens will get CT scans before surgery at the CBIC, then will have several sections of cranial and facial bones removed. The specimens will be scanned again after surgery. A comparison of pre- and post-operative scans will determine the geometry of the needed prostheses.
The prostheses will be output at the CTSC 3D Printing Core Facility, sterilized, then implanted into the specimen to test their fit and the ability to adhere to the surrounding bone.
The award is effective October 15, 2014, and the investigation will be completed by May 15, 2015.
