Brazil: facial reconstruction using 3D printing

“Today I know how much better I will feel on the street. I have no words”. Here is the reaction of Denise Vicentin, a 53-year-old Brazilian, when she discovers her new face. The 50-year-old has lost her eye and a large part of her jaw to cancer. She was treated in the São Paulo clinic, thanks to 3D printing.
This pioneering method was initiated by researchers at Paulista University, also in São Paulo. They use smartphones and 3D printers to create facial expressions. These will then serve as models for silicone prostheses. Denise Vicentin is one of the 50 patients treated by Doctor Rodrigo Salazar and his colleagues. They have all been wearing these removable prostheses since 2015.

An effective and economical method

“In the past it required long hours of work, hours of hand sculpting and the procedure was very invasive,” says Dr. Salazar. “Today we create three-dimensional models with smartphone photos”. This makes it possible to obtain precise models, with the exact measurements of the face. And it costs much less than conventional prostheses. “This method shows that you don’t need big investments to use advanced technologies,” says Dr. Salazar. For Denise Vicentin, for example, the manufacturing time took only 12 hours, half the time of conventional methods.

Soon the opening of a center?

In recent years, techniques related to 3D have developed strongly. Luciano Dib, one of Dr. Salazar’s supervisors and co-researcher, came up with the idea of ​​using this method to make prostheses. It was he who started the transformation of Denise Vicentin in 2018, by implanting titanium rods in her eyeball to hold the prosthesis. The following year, the 50-year-old underwent a whole series of operations. Today, she can look in the mirror even if there are still steps to take. Her lips and jaw need to be rebuilt. In 2020, researchers hope to treat several dozen patients and open a facial reconstruction treatment center.