Boots – shoes – and leggings
Patent
1996-10-18
1998-06-16
Elmore, Reba I.
Boots, shoes, and leggings
623 16, 623901, 4332011, G06F 1900, G06T 1500
Patent
active
057681341
DESCRIPTION:
BRIEF SUMMARY
FIELD OF THE INVENTION
The invention concerns a method for making a medical model on the basis of digital image information of a part of the body, according to which this image information of a part of the body is converted, by means of what is called the rapid prototyping technique and thus with a processing unit and a rapid prototyping machine, into a basic model of which at least a part shows the positive or negative form of at least a portion of the part of the body.
BACKGROUND OF THE INVENTION
By rapid prototyping technique should be understood all techniques whereby an object is built layer by layer or point per point by adding or hardening material (also called free-form manufacturing). The best known techniques of this type are: stereo lithography and related techniques, whereby for example a basin with liquid synthetic material is selectively cured layer by layer by means of a computer-controlled electromagnetic beam; selective laser sintering, whereby powder particles are sintered by means of an electromagnetic beam or are welded together according to a specific pattern; or fused deposition modelling, whereby a synthetic material is fused and is stacked according to a line pattern.
The digital image information can be provided by a computer tomography scanner.
The model produced up to now according to the above-mentioned technique, can be a model which is an exact copy of the part of the body, for example a piece of bone, and upon which a surgery operation can be practiced, or it can be a prosthesis which fits perfectly to the part of the body.
However, the models produced up to now, including three-dimensional images, do not take advantage of all the information contained in the image information. They form a perfect copy of the part of the body, but they do not contain any additional functional elements.
Such models which are exact copies of real structures are for example produced from medical images with the technique disclosed in the article "Integration of 3-D medical imaging and rapid prototyping to create stereolithographic models" from T.M.BARKER et al., published in "Australasian Physical & Engineering Sciences in Medicine", vol. 16, no. 2, June 1993, pages 79-85.
Scanner data are transformed to a suitable format in a computer and the images are processed as a volume of voxels. The object is segmented prior to the meshing of the object surface and the creation of the stereolithographic model. The obtained model cannot be used for registration, this is finding back a position on the patient.
Functional elements, such as an opening indicating the place and direction for boring, can be added manually, but not as a function of the image information. At the time when these models are made, the grey value data of the image information are lost. However, these grey value data contain clinical data which are important for the use of the models. Such clinical data are for example the muscles and tendons which have to be taken into account when designing a prosthesis. These muscles and tendons are visible in the images, but not in the three-dimensional model, nor when working with segmented contours/surfaces in CAD-applications.
How to color selected elements of a three-dimensional object such as an anatomic model, prepared by irradiation techniques for example by stereolithography, is disclosed in EP-A-0 535 984, but this document does however neither disclose nor suggest to add artificial functional elements to the model for registration purposes, this is for transposing the pre-surgical planning or simulation to the surgery.
The manipulation of digital image data during the preparation of a surgical operation, for example, is known as such. It is possible, for example, to determine the position and direction of an implant on the images or to simulate surgeries. However, there is no connection with reality and, by lack of reference, these prepared image data cannot be used in practice. The image information is not used to the full extent.
As for the application of dental implants, attempts
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Australasian Physical & Engineering Sciences in Medicine Journal, vol. 16, No. 2, Jun. 1993-pp. 79-85.
Swaelens Bart
Vancraen Wilfried
Elmore Reba I.
Garland Steven R.
Materialise, Naamloze Vennootschap
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