TOWARDS PATIENT SPECIFIC PLATE IMPLANTS FOR THE HUMAN LONG BONES: A DISTAL HUMERUS EXAMPLE

Plate implants are the most used internal fixators for the surgical treatments of the bone fractures. In clinical cases where there is a requirement to use reconstruction plates, and/or to stabilize the fracture, adaptation of plate shape (e.g. bending) to the patient anatomy is required, and it is usually done during the surgery. In order to eliminate the need for intra-operative bending of plates, precontoured plates can be used. These are patient specific implants whose shape and geometry is adapted to the anatomy and morphology of the specific patient. In order to create a patient specific 3D model of the plate implant, the bone model acquired through medical imaging (e.g. Computed Tomography - CT) is commonly used. By the application of various CAD techniques, the volume model of specific plate implant can be created, and used for the production of the plate, by conventional or additive manufacturing technologies. In this paper the authors present a new approach to the creation of a 3D parametric model of the patient specific plate implant for distal humerus. By using such model the surgeon can perform preoperative planning and adapt shape of plate to the specific patient before the surgery, and in this way he can improve pre, intra and post-operative processes