New frontiers and emerging applications of 3D printing in ENT surgery: A systematic review of the literature

3D printing systems have revolutionised prototyping in the industrial field by lowering production time from days to hours and costs from thousands to just a few dollars. Today, 3D printers are no more confined to prototyping, but are increasingly employed in medical disci- plines with fascinating results, even in many aspects of otorhinolaryngology. All publications on ENT surgery, sourced through updated electronic databases (PubMed, MEDLINE, EMBASE) and published up to March 2017, were examined according to PRISMA guidelines. Overall, 121 studies fulfilled specific inclusion criteria and were included in our systematic review. Studies were classified according to the specific field of application (otologic, rhinologic, head and neck) and area of interest (surgical and preclinical education, customised surgical planning, tissue engineering and implantable prosthesis). Technological aspects, clinical implications and limits of 3D printing processes are discussed focusing on current benefits and future perspectives

A pilot study for the digital replacement of a distorted dentition acquired by Cone Beam Computed Tomography (CBCT)

Abstract Introduction: Cone beam CT (CBCT) is becoming a routine imaging modality designed for the maxillofacial region. Imaging patients with intra-oral metallic objects cause streak artefacts. Artefacts impair any virtual model by obliterating the teeth. This is a major obstacle for occlusal registration and the fabrication of orthognathic wafers to guide the surgical correction of dentofacial deformities. Aims and Objectives: To develop a method of replacing the inaccurate CBCT images of the dentition with an accurate representation and test the feasibility of the technique in the clinical environment. Materials and Method: Impressions of the teeth are acquired and acrylic baseplates constructed on dental casts incorporating radiopaque registration markers. The appliances are fitted and a preoperative CBCT is performed. Impressions are taken of the dentition with the devices in situ and subsequent dental models produced. The models are scanned to produce a virtual model. Both images of the patient and the model are imported into a virtual reality software program and aligned on the virtual markers. This allows the alignment of the dentition without relying on the teeth for superimposition. The occlusal surfaces of the dentition can be replaced with the occlusal image of the model. Results: The absolute mean distance of the mesh between the markers in the skulls was in the region of 0.09mm ± 0.03mm; the replacement dentition had an absolute mean distance of about 0.24mm ± 0.09mm. In patients the absolute mean distance between markers increased to 0.14mm ± 0.03mm. It was not possible to establish the discrepancies in the patient’s dentition, since the original image of the dentition is inherently inaccurate. Conclusion: It is possible to replace the CBCT virtual dentition of cadaveric skulls with an accurate representation to create a composite skull. The feasibility study was successful in the clinical arena. This could be a significant advancement in the accuracy of surgical prediction planning, with the ultimate goal of fabrication of a physical orthognathic wafer using reverse engineering

Darwin or Frankenstein?

Through sculpture and drawing, I create my own versions of natural specimens primarily based upon the visual unity of disparate organisms. Invented specimens are composed using a variety of processes employing a mixture of atypical materials following the (20th, 21st century) Postmodern shift away from formalist and traditional uses of any singular medium. As well as a variety of art materials, the specimens are hybrids of organic and biomorphic elements, blurring boundaries between botanical, animal, fungal, metal, and mineral. Is my approach perhaps like Charles Darwin, observant and studious naturalist, or am I more like Dr. Frankenstein, science fiction maker of monstrosities

Optimising additive manufacturing for fine art sculpture and digital restoration of archaeological artefacts

Additive manufacturing (AM) has shown itself to be beneficial in many application areas, including product design and manufacture, medical models and prosthetics, architectural modelling and artistic endeavours. For some of these applications, coupling AM with reverse engineering (RE) enables the utilisation of data from existing 3D shapes. This thesis describes the application of AM and RE within sculpture manufacture, in order to optimise the process chains for sculpture reproduction and relic conservation and restoration. This area poses particular problems since the original artefacts can often be fragile and inaccessible, and the finishing required on the AM replicas is both complex and varied. Several case studies within both literature and practical projects are presented, which cover essential knowledge of producing large scale sculptures from an original models as well as a wide range of artefact shapes and downstream finishing techniques. The combination of digital technologies and traditional art requires interdisciplinary knowledge across engineering and fine art. Also, definitions and requirements (e.g. ‘accuracy’), can be applied as both engineering and artistic terms when specifications and trade-offs are being considered. The thesis discusses the feasibility for using these technologies across domains, and explores the potential for developing new market opportunities for AM. It presents and analyses a number of case study projects undertaken by the author with a view to developing cost and time models for various processes used. These models have then been used to develop a series of "process maps", which enable users of AM in this area to decide upon the optimum process route to follow, under various circumstances. The maps were validated and user feedback obtained through the execution of two further sculpture manufacturing projects. The thesis finishes with conclusions about the feasibility of the approach, its constraints, the pros and cons of adopting AM in this area and recommendations for future research

Darwin or Frankenstein?

Through sculpture and drawing, I create my own versions of natural specimens primarily based upon the visual unity of disparate organisms. Invented specimens are composed using a variety of processes employing a mixture of atypical materials following the (20th, 21st century) Postmodern shift away from formalist and traditional uses of any singular medium. As well as a variety of art materials, the specimens are hybrids of organic and biomorphic elements, blurring boundaries between botanical, animal, fungal, metal, and mineral. Is my approach perhaps like Charles Darwin, observant and studious naturalist, or am I more like Dr. Frankenstein, science fiction maker of monstrosities

Putting a face on prehistory: reconstructing Late-Mississippian faces

This paper examines the results of artificial cranial deformation on the human skull in relation to the human face and the use of three-dimensional printing in the making of skull casts. Forensic facial reconstructions, following the American Method, were performed on three Native American skulls from the Late-Mississippian period, excavated from the Humber Site and on loan from the University of Southern Mississippi, in order to see whether or not the artificial deformation radically changed the faces of the individuals. Skull casts were made out of ABS plastic using rapid prototyping technology, as the original skulls were too fragile for traditional methods. The reconstructions were completed at the LSU FACES Lab under the direction of Ms. Mary Manhein, Ms. Eileen Barrow, and Ms. Nicole Harris. The majority of changes in the facial region caused by the artificial deformation were found in the formation of bones adjacent to the cranial vault. This is the area where the deformational pressures would be the greatest. The superior border of the eye orbit was found to be less projecting than normal, with the consequence that the placement of the eyes for the facial reconstruction was too shallow. The American Method relies upon both the superior and inferior edges of the orbit for the placement. Changing the placement of the eyes in the American Method using only the inferior border of the orbit compensated for the changes in the bone structure and allowed for the correct positioning of the eye and a better depiction of the individual. Rapid prototyping skull casting has tremendous potential for damaged modern and ancient skulls. However, higher resolution scans and casts are needed for this technique to be accepted in both the academic and law enforcement communities

Visual literacy for the 1990\u27s

Visual aesthetics -- Whole-brain thinking -- Pictorial imaging -- Art and science, mathematics, social studies, and language arts

What Is It Like To Be A Problem?

In this thesis paper I explore the factors contributing to my current art making. I investigate motivations behind my practice in an exploration of conceptual and narrative experience that create its foundation and background. I will notate the development and exhibit examples of my current works in relation to the past three years of MFA research. I will discuss the Arab problem, and through five installation artworks focus on memories of situations in my family and the Pittsburgh Arab community. Throughout the paper I will include current contemporary artists working with similar media and references in social and political environments

“A whole chapel cast and engraved with images”: New Perspectives on the Tomb of Saint Sebald in Nuremberg

This dissertation critiques the concept of art-historical periodization through a monographic study of the brass tomb of St. Sebald in the Church of St. Sebald in Nuremberg, Germany. From the time it was designed and cast between 1488 and 1519 by the Vischer family workshop, this object has been considered a sculptural masterpiece, often called the first Renaissance sculpture north of the Alps. And yet, it has not been the subject of a monograph since 1970. The tomb is unique; no other saint’s tomb from the Holy Roman Empire displays such a dominant use of architectural forms. No other is cast in costly brass. No other employs classical and pagan motifs and ornament. And no other saint’s tomb remains preserved in a Protestant church. The Vischer family executed the tomb at a time when certain Nuremberg artists and intellectuals became interested in the forms of the Italian Renaissance, and the tomb displays an arresting blend of traditional Gothic, Germanic elements and Italianate figure types and themes. It is an object that preserves a period of transformation for a great city in visual form. Through examination of the specific religious, economic, political, and cultural context in which the tomb was commissioned, the formal vocabularies employed in its design, the technology that was harnessed to cast it, and the ways observers have reacted to it throughout history, I distance the work from assumptions made by previous scholars intent on viewing the work as a Renaissance sculpture deeply indebted to Italianate notions about art and artists. The first chapter of this dissertation considers the specific ways in which the Vischer workshop cast the tomb of St. Sebald, and the relationship of those techniques to the rest of the workshop’s objects, other founders in Nuremberg, and traditional casting techniques in German-speaking lands. The second chapter examines the tomb of St. Sebald as a site of saintly veneration, examining the ritual and economic aspects of the cult of St. Sebald in Nuremberg in the late fifteenth and early sixteenth century and the ways these factors may have affected the form and function of the brass tomb monument. My third chapter discusses the formal elements of the tomb, considering not only the classicizing ornament and pagan narratives, but also the ways that the Vischers employed traditional Gothic structural and decorative programs. This chapter also considers the specific motivations the patrons of the tomb may have had in encouraging these elements, and how they play off one another in a way that conforms to traditional hagiographic narratives. Finally, the fourth chapter traces the circulation of plaster casts of the whole tomb and its parts in the nineteenth century as a way to understand how the tomb and related objects were used to construct a sense of German national identity at the dawn of Germany as a unified nation. Through these various strands of investigation, a clearer picture of the role the tomb of St. Sebald played both in the time and place of its creation and the centuries of its continued existence will emerge, distinct from generalized conceptions of medieval or Renaissance artistic production