A finite element approach for the planning and simulation of 3D reconstruction of maxillofacial deformities

Abstract

A prototype system was developed for the surgery planning involving bone cutting and repositioning of the human mandible as well as the prediction of the facial changes through simulation of the virtual orthognathic surgery. Actual preoperative patient data of Asian ethnicity was used and a computerized facial model was derived. The finite element method (FEM) was employed to accommodate numerical solution for mathematical formulations used for representing material properties of biological tissues. The study also includes the contact analysis of FEM, which predicts the facial changes due to the underlying mandibular repositioning through dependent association in between the bone and the tissue. © 2008 Springer-Verlag.