Applications of 3D topography scanning and multi-material additive manufacturing for facial prosthesis development and production

Prosthetic based rehabilitation offers several advantages over surgical intervention, however, devices are generally handmade using labour intensive and subjective manufacturing techniques. We investigate the use of optical scanning to capture the surface topography from a volunteer’s facial anatomy, reconstruct this into a 3D CAD model, and from that design a patient specific prosthesis. This approach offers many advantages over existing techniques as data collection is non-intrusive, rapid and provides anatomically precise information. A CAD approach affords greater flexibility when evaluating design iterations and allows for the creation of ‘parts libraries’ for use with patients with no initial reference anatomy. The final prosthesis is realised through high resolution, multi-material 3D printing for precise model reproduction and to add functionalities such as mimicry of soft and hard tissues. Ultimately, we believe our approach provides an optimised, low-cost approach for streamlining the complete methodology for prosthesis production.