3D printed splint designed by 3D surface scanner for patients with hand allodynia.

Allodynia is a neuropathic pain triggered by a normally painless stimulus: for example, a slight touch on the skin or slight sensation of hot or cold is extremely painful. Rehabilitation is long and uncertain. Protecting the painful area from stimuli is a priority of care. This type of care is complex and challenging for the care team: the pain caused in manufacturing a classic molded orthosis is unbearable for the patient, and the orthosis has a limited lifetime, and experience shows that it is not possible to produce two identical splints. The present study consisted in creating protective splints by 3D printing, designed from data collected with the 3D surface scanner used in our forensic imaging and anthropology unit. The pros and cons of the 3D orthosis versus standard molded orthoses from the point of view of the patient and the practitioner are discussed, with evaluation of related indications of this technology.

Anterior Petrosectomy With Intertentorial Approach.

BACKGROUND AND OBJECTIVES: The extradural anterior petrosal approach (EAPA) can present a challenge because it deals with critical structures in a narrow, confined corridor. It is associated with several potential approach-related risks including temporal lobe and venous injuries. Tentorial peeling has the potential to largely eliminate these risks during the approach and may offer more options for tailoring the dural opening to the anatomic region that one wants to expose. METHODS: Anatomic dissections of five adult injected non-formalin-fixed cadaveric heads were performed. Anterior petrosectomy with intertentorial approach (APIA) through a tentorial peeling was completed. Step-by-step documentation of the cadaveric dissections and diagrammatic representations are presented along with an illustrative case. RESULTS: Tentorial peeling separates the tentorium into a temporal tentorial leaf and posterior fossa tentorial leaf, adding a fourth dural layer to the three classic ones described during a standard EAPA. This opens out the intertentorial space and offers more options for tailoring the dural incisions specific to the pathology being treated. This represents a unique possibility to address brainstem or skull base pathology along the mid- and upper clivus with the ability to keep the entire temporal lobe and basal temporal veins covered by the temporal tentorial leaf. The APIA was successfully used for the resection of a large clival chordoma in the illustrative case. CONCLUSION: APIA is an interesting modification to the classic EAPA to reduce the approach-related morbidity. The risk reduction achieved is by eliminating the exposure of the temporal lobe while maintaining the excellent access to the petroclival region. It also provides several options to tailor the durotomies based on the localization of the lesion.

Combined Petrosal Intertentorial Approach: A Cadaveric Study of Comparison With the Standard Combined Petrosectomy.

BACKGROUND AND OBJECTIVES: The combined petrosal intertentorial approach (CPIA) has been proposed as an alternative to standard combined petrosal approach (SCPA). CPIA has been designed to maintain integrity of the temporal dura with a view to reduce temporal lobe morbidity and venous complications. This study has been designed to perform a quantitative comparison between these approaches. METHODS: Five human specimens were used for this study. CPIA was performed on one side and SCPA on the opposite side. The area of exposure (petroclival and brainstem), surgical freedom, and angles of attack to a predefined target were measured and compared. RESULTS: SCPA provided a significantly larger petroclival area of exposure (6.81 ± 0.60 cm2) over the CPIA (5.59 ± 0.59 cm2), P = .012. The area of brainstem exposed with SCPA was greater than with CPIA (7.17 ± 0.84 vs 5.63 ± 0.72, P = .014). The area of surgical freedom was greater in SCPA rather than in CPIA (8.59 ± 0.55 and 7.13 ± 0.96 cm2, respectively, P = .019). There was no significative difference between CPIA and SCPA in the vertical angles of attack for the Meckel cave, Dorello canal, and root entry zone of cranial nerve VII. Conversely, the horizontal angles of attack permitted by the CPIA were significantly smaller for the Meckel cave (52.36° ± 5.01° vs 64.4° ± 5.3°, P = .006) and root entry zone of cranial nerve VII (30.7° ± 4.4° vs 40.1° ± 6.2°, P = .025). CONCLUSION: CPIA is associated with a reduction in terms of the area of surgical freedom (22%), skull base (18%), brainstem exposure (17%), and horizontal angles of attack (18%-23%) when compared with SCPA. This loss in terms of exposure is counterbalanced by the advantage of keeping the temporal lobe covered by an extra layer of meningeal tissue, thus possibly reducing the risk of temporal lobe injury and venous infarction. These results need to be validated with adequate clinical experience.

Measuring pelvises in 3D surface scans and in MDCT generated virtual environment: Considerations for applications in the forensic context.

Virtual Anthropology (VA) transposes the traditional methods of physical anthropology to virtual environments using imaging techniques and exploits imaging technologies to devise new methodological protocols. In this research, we investigate whether the measurements used in the Diagnose Sexuelle Probabiliste (DSP) and Ischio-Pubic Index (IPI) differ significantly when 3D models of a bone are generated using 3D surface scans (3DSS) and Multidetector Computed Tomography (MDCT) scans. Thirty pelvises were selected from the SIMON identified skeletal collection. An equal ratio of females to males was sought, as well as a good preservation of the bones. The pelvises were scanned using an MDCT scanner and a 3D surface scanner. The measurements of the DSP and IPI methods on the dry bones (referred to as macroscopic measurements here), and then to the 3D models. The intra- and interobserver, using the Technical Error of Measurement (TEM) and relative Technical Error of Measurement (rTEM) error was assessed, and we aimed to observe if the measurements made on the MDCT and 3DSS generated models were significantly different from those taken on the dry bones. Additionally, the normality of the data was tested (Shapiro-Wilk test) and the differences in measurements was evaluated using parametric (Student t-tests) and non-parametric (Wilcoxon) tests. The TEM and rTEM calculations show high intra and interobserver consistency in general. However, some measurements present insufficient inter- and intraobserver agreement. Student t and Wilcoxon tests indicate potentially significant differences of some measurements between the different environments. The results show that especially in the virtual environment, it is not easy to find the right angle for some of the DSP measurements, However, when comparing the measurement differences between dry and virtual bones, the results show that most of the differences are less than or equal to 2.5 mm. Considering the IPI, the landmarks are already difficult to determine on the dry bone, but they are even more difficult to locate in the virtual environment. Nevertheless, this study shows that quantitative methods may be better suited for application in the virtual environment, but further research using different methods is needed.