R_Bibb_Medical_Modelling_The_Application_of_Adv.pdf

6.33 The guide being fi tted to the patient during surgery.
Case studies 155
There were no problems experienced with sterilising or using the guides.
The guides all resulted in some time saving in theatre, particularly the
individual case described here. The surgical outcomes were good and turned
out as planned.
6.6.6 Discussion
The surgical guides described here were all deemed successful and contributed
to the successful transfer of computer-aided planning to the theatre.
The drilling guide was very successful being thinner, more rigid, more hardwearing
and easier to sterilise than previous reported attempts that utilised
SLA (21, 22). As can be seen in Fig. 6.34, the incorporation of embossed
orientation markers and patient names was also benefi cial and could help
prevent errors in theatre (the patient name has been deliberately obscured
to respect confi dentiality).
However, the osteotomy guides proved challenging. There was no previous
experience or publications to build on and, given the experimental
nature of the two cases undertaken, the results were encouraging. The
design of the guides will be signifi cantly better in future cases based on
the fi ndings of these cases. The individual case described here illustrates
examples of design improvement that resulted from this research. These
improvements include the better positioning of handles, smaller extents
of the fi tting surfaces and avoiding potential weaknesses. For example,