Computer-Aided Design and Fabrication of Finger Prosthesis

Custom-made esthetic finger prostheses, which are used for rehabilitation of patients with missing or impaired fingers, have been fabricated manually. However, such fabrication is time-consuming and requires manual skill. Here we propose a computer-aided method for fabricating finger pros-theses to save time and allow fabrications that do not require considerable manual skill. In this method, the dimensions of a patient’s healthy finger on the contralateral hand are first measured using a caliper. Using these dimensions, a three-dimensional model is constructed for fabricating a prosthesis for the patient’s impaired finger. Using the 3D model, a mold is designed using 3D modeling tools and a computer-aided design system. The resulting mold is then fabricated using a 3D printer. A finger prosthesis is fabricated by pouring silicone resin into the mold. A finger prosthesis for a volunteer was experimentally fabricated according to the proposed method. To evaluate the size and shape of the finger prosthesis, the difference between the finger prosthesis and the original finger of the volunteer was analyzed. Because the average difference between them was 0.25 mm, it was concluded that the proposed method could be used to fabricate a finger prosthesis of adequate size and shape.

3D printing of patient-specific implants for osteochondral defects: workflow for an MRI-guided zonal design

Magnetic resonance imaging(MRI)is a common clinical practice to visualize defects and to distinguish different tissue types and pathologies in the human body.So far,MRI data have not been used to model and generate a patient-specific design of multilayered tissue substitutes in the case of interfacial defects.For orthopedic cases that require highly individual surgical treatment,implant fabrication by additive manufacturing holds great potential.Extrusion-based techniques like 3D plot-ting allow the spatially defined application of several materials,as well as implementation of bioprinting strategies.With the example of a typical multi-zonal osteochondral defect in an osteochondritis dissecans(OCD)patient,this study aimed to close the technological gap between MRI analysis and the additive manufacturing process of an implant based on dif-ferent biomaterial inks.A workflow was developed which covers the processing steps of MRI-based defect identification,segmentation,modeling,implant design adjustment,and implant generation.A model implant was fabricated based on two biomaterial inks with clinically relevant properties that would allow for bioprinting,the direct embedding of a patient’s own cells in the printing process.As demonstrated by the geometric compatibility of the designed and fabricated model implant in a stereolithography(SLA)model of lesioned femoral condyles,a novel versatile CAD/CAM workflow was successfully established that opens up new perspectives for the treatment of multi-zonal(osteochondral)defects.

Replacement of Unesthetic Posterior Metal Crowns with Monolithic Zirconia Crowns: A Case Report

Advances in metal-free materials and the popularization of Computer-Aided Design and Manufacturing (CAD/CAM) have led to the wide clinical use of all-ceramic crowns for esthetic restorations. A 72-year-old woman presented to our hospital with unesthetic restorations on the right upper and lower posterior teeth. Intraoral examination revealed poorly fitting metal crown margins. Defective prostheses were removed, and provisional restorations were provided to stabilize the mandibular position. Optical impressions and the maxillomandibular relationship were recorded using an intraoral scanner, and monolithic zirconia crowns were fabricated using CAD/CAM technology for complete veneer crown restorative treatment. Occlusal examination revealed an improvement in occlusal force distribution at initial examination (right side: 33.5%, left side: 66.5%) after placement of the zirconia crowns (right side: 54.9%, left side: 45.1%). Occlusal force and occlusal force distribution area also showed an increasing trend. The Oral Health Impact Profile short form (OHIP-14) score decreased from 7 points at initial examination to 0 points after prosthodontic treatment. Appropriate diagnosis and treatment planning contributed to the increased occlusal force and balanced occlusal force distribution. Therefore, the present case indicates the potential of monolithic zirconia crowns to achieve both esthetic and stable functional outcomes.

Accuracy evaluation of a new three-dimensional reproduction method of edentulous dental casts, and wax occlusion rims with jaw relation

The article introduces a new method for three-dimensional reproduction of edentulous dental casts,and wax occlusion rims with jaw relation by using a commercial high-speed line laser scanner and reverse engineering software and evaluates the method’s accuracy in vitro.The method comprises three main steps：（i）acquisition of the three-dimensional stereolithography data of maxillary and mandibular edentulous dental casts and wax occlusion rims;（ii）acquisition of the three-dimensional stereolithography data of jaw relations;and（iii）registration of these data with the reverse engineering software and completing reconstruction.To evaluate the accuracy of this method,dental casts and wax occlusion rims of 10 edentulous patients were used.The lengths of eight lines between common anatomic landmarks were measured directly on the casts and occlusion rims by using a vernier caliper and on the three-dimensional computerized images by using the software measurement tool.The direct data were considered as the true values.The paired-samples t-test was used for statistical analysis.The mean differences between the direct and the computerized measurements were mostly less than 0.04 mm and were not significant（P.0.05）.Statistical significance among 10 patients was assessed using one-way analysis of variance（P,0.05）.The result showed that the 10 patients were considered statistically no significant.Therefore,accurate three-dimensional reproduction of the edentulous dental casts,wax occlusion rims,and jaw relations was achieved.The proposed method enables the visualization of occlusion from different views and would help to meet the demand for the computer-aided design of removable complete dentures.

An Open CAM System for Dentistry on the Basis of China-made 5-axis Simultaneous Contouring CNC Machine Tool and Industrial CAM Software

China-made 5-axis simultaneous contouring CNC machine tool and domestically developed industrial computer-aided manufacture （CAM） technology were used for full crown fabrication and measurement of crown accuracy, with an attempt to establish an open CAM system for dental processing and to promote the introduction of domestic dental computer-aided design （CAD）/CAM system. Commercially available scanning equipment was used to make a basic digital tooth model after preparation of crown, and CAD software that comes with the scanning device was employed to design the crown by using domestic industrial CAM software to process the crown data in order to generate a solid model for machining purpose, and then China-made 5-axis simultaneous contouring CNC machine tool was used to complete machining of the whole crown and the internal accuracy of the crown internal was measured by using 3D-MicroCT. The results showed that China-made 5-axis simultaneous contouring CNC machine tool in combination with domestic industrial CAM technology can be used for crown making and the crown was well positioned in die. The internal accuracy was successfully measured by using 3D-MicroCT. It is concluded that an open CAM system for den-tistry on the basis of China-made 5-axis simultaneous contouring CNC machine tool and domestic industrial CAM software has been established, and development of the system will promote the introduction of domestically-produced dental CAD/CAM system.

CAD/CAM for scalable nanomanufacturing:A network-based system for hybrid 3D printing

Micro-and nano-structuring have been highlighted over several decades in both science and engineering fields.In addition to continuous efforts in fabrication techniques,investigations in scalable nanomanufacturing have been pursued to achieve reduced feature size,fewer constraints in terms of materials and dimensional complexity,as well as improved process throughput.In this study,based on recent micro-/nanoscale fabrication processes,characteristics and key requirements for computer-aided design and manufacturing(CAD/CAM)systems for scalable nanomanufacturing were investigated.Requirements include a process knowledge database,standardized processing,active communication,adaptive interpolation,a consistent coordinate system,and management of peripheral devices.For scalable nanomanufacturing,it is important to consider the flexibility and expandability of each process,because hybrid and bridging processes represent effective ways to expand process capabilities.As an example,we describe a novel CAD/CAM system for hybrid three-dimensional(3D)printing at the nanoscale.This novel hybrid process was developed by bridging aerodynamically focused nanoparticle printing,focused ion beam milling,micromachining,and spincoating processes.The system developed can print a full 3D structure using various inorganic materials,with a minimum process scale of 50 nm.The most obvious difference versus CAD/CAM at‘conventional’scales is that our system was developed based on a network to promote communication between users and process operators.With the network-based system,it is also possible to narrow the gap among different processes/resources.We anticipate that this approach can contribute to the development of CAD/CAM for scalable nanomanufacturing and a wide range of hybrid processes.

Current Trends in Aesthetic Dentistry

The level of aesthetic requirement in clinical practice has increased over the past decade, and this has made it necessary for dentist to explore this field in order to satisfy the existing demand in this field. Technology can provide a solution to many of the routine hassles in dental practice. While optimal systems are far from fully realized, technology undeniably has made enormous progress. This review aims to provide an update on some of the recent advances in the field of aesthetic dentistry. MEDLINE (1990 to Jan 2014), PubMed (using medical subject headings), and Google Scholar searched using the following terms “Dental Composites”, “Ceramic Crowns”, “Aesthetic Posts”, “Ceramic Veneers”, and “Computer-Aided Design/Computer Aided Manufacturing (CAD/CAM)”. This was supplemented by hand-searching in peer-reviewed journals and cross-referenced with the articles accessed. Dentist and dental technician alike must be aware of the current technologies in their fields and be able to use it to their and their patient’s advantage. The learning objective of this article is to review the advantages and disadvantages of recent esthetic materials and technology to aid in the proper utilization of the available treatment options with discretion.

Application of digital technology in nasal reconstruction

Nasal defects are facial defects caused by trauma,tumors,or congenital diseases that seriously damage a patient’s physical and mental health.Nasal defects,from skin defects to total nasal defects,require surgical repair and reconstruction to restore the appearance and function of the nose,which have always been challenges for rhinoplasty.The development of digital technology has increased the possibility of nasal reconstruction.Digital technology is involved in the preoperative,intraoperative,and postoperative stages of nasal construction and is of great significance in improving the effect of this surgery.This article reviews the application of major digital technologies,including three-dimensional(3D)imaging technology,computer-assisted surgical navigation,and 3D printing,in nasal reconstruction and discusses the shortcomings of the current application of digital technology.

Face transplantation for massive mandibular defects: considerations for allograft design and surgical planning

Modern face transplant techniques have advanced to allow for the transfer of vascularized skeletal components in addition to overlying soft tissue.This represents significant opportunity for individuals with mandibular defects that are not amenable to traditional reconstruction.Care must be taken when planning and executing transplants with these complex grafts,as satisfactory functional and aesthetic outcomes rely on achieving proper spatial relationships between the mandible,skull base,and midface.Which donor skeletal elements are included in the allograft and how they are harvested are important considerations in this planning and are associated with controversy.To optimize outcomes in the reconstruction of single-jaw defects,some advocate for transplantation of only the affected jaw while others support bimaxillary transplantation.Clinical evidence in this debate is not conclusive at this time.In current practice,including donor dentoalveolar anatomy by utilizing a bilateral sagittal split osteotomy of the mandible is favored to optimize outcomes such as dental occlusion.It has been suggested that harvesting the mandible at the level of the condyle or even the temporal bone may also be possible and may improve temporomandibular joint-related outcomes.Despite encouraging preclinical evidence,these strategies remain controversial.After allograft design,successful mandibular reconstruction with face transplantation relies on surgical precision in the donor and recipient procedures.Computerized surgical planning,computer-aided design and manufacturing,and intraoperative navigation are technologies currently in use to mitigate operative complexity.Results in both cadaveric and clinical face transplantations suggest these technologies are reliable and beneficial,although some room for improvement remains.

Machining Robot with Vibrational Motion and 3D Printer-like Data Interface

In this paper, a vibration motion control is proposed and implemented on a foamed polystyrene machining robot to suppress the generation of undesirable cusp marks, and the basic performance of the controller is verified through machining experiments of foamed polystyrene. Then, a 3 dimensional （3D） printer-like data interface is proposed for the machining robot. The 3D data inter- face enables to control the machining robot directly using stereolithography （STL） data without conducting any computer-aided man- ufacturing （CAM） process. This is done by developing a robotic preprocessor that helps to remove the need for the conventional CAM process by directly converting the STL data into cutter location source data called cutter location （CL） or cutter location source （CLS） data. The STL is a file format proposed by 3D systems, and recently is supported by many computer aided design （CAD）/CAM soft- waxes. The STL is widely used for rapid prototyping with a 3D printer which is a typical additive manufacturing system. The STL deals with a triangular representation of a curved surface geometry. The developed 3D printer-like data interface allows to directly control the machining robot through a zigzag path, rectangular spiral path and circular spiral path generated according to the information included in STL data. The effectiveness and usefulness of the developed system are demonstrated through actual machining experiments.

STEP AP 242 Managed Model-based 3D Engineering:An Application Towards the Automation of Fixture Planning

Fixture design and planning is one of the most important manufacturing activities, playing a pivotal role in deciding the lead time for product development. Fixture design, which affects the part-quality in terms of geometric accuracy and surface finish, can be enhanced by using the product manufacturing information(PMI) stored in the neutral standard for the exchange of product model data(STEP) file, thereby integrating design and manufacturing. The present paper proposes a unique fixture design approach, to extract the geometry information from STEP application protocol(AP) 242 files of computer aided design(CAD) models, for providing automatic suggestions of locator positions and clamping surfaces. Automatic feature extraction software "FiXplan", developed using the programming language C#, is used to extract the part feature, dimension and geometry information. The information from the STEP AP 242 file is deduced using geometric reasoning techniques, which in turn is utilized for fixture planning. The developed software is observed to be adept in identifying the primary, secondary, and tertiary locating faces and locator position configurations of prismatic components. Structural analysis of the prismatic part under different locator positions was performed using commercial finite element method software, ABAQUS, and the optimized locator position was identified on the basis of minimum deformation of the workpiece.The area-ratio(base locator enclosed area(%)/work piece base area(%)) for the ideal locator configuration was observed as 33%. Experiments were conducted on a prismatic workpiece using a specially designed fixture, for different locator configurations. The surface roughness and waviness of the machined surfaces were analysed using an Alicona non-contact optical profilometer. The best surface characteristics were obtained for the surface machined under the ideal locator positions having an area-ratio of 33%, thus validating the predicted numerical results. The efficiency, capability and applicability of the developed software is demonstrated for the finishing operation of a sensor cover – a typical prismatic component having applications in the naval industry, under different locator configurations.The best results were obtained under the proposed ideal locator configuration of area-ratio 33%.