Aiding Head Injury Victims

The Faculties of Engineering and Life and Health Sciences at the University of Ulster are combining to help patients suffering from severe skull defects. The two Faculties produce physical models of the skull defects - holes in the bone caused either by injury or surgery - to enable hospital technicians to create exactly matching titanium plates used to repair the damage. Patients who need the titanium plates are given a routine CT scan in hospital and this image is used by the University to create models of the defect. The exact dimensions of the defect are replicated by computer controlled milling. The medical engineers at the University can also reproduce the precise contours of the skull by using undamaged bone structure as a template. The model is then sent to the RVH School of Dentistry in Belfast, where the titanium plate is cut to size and shape. The final plate is then fitted to the patient by a neurosurgeon. According to scientist Dr John Winder of the Faculty of Life and Health Sciences, the computer aided process improves the accuracy of the titanium plate, less time in theatre, and the cosmetic outcome for the patient. ?The end result is that each patient receives a custom-made titanium plate created from their original CT scan,? added Dr Winder, who has a background in medical physics in the NHS in the province. The use of titanium plates to repair holes in the skull was pioneered at the Royal Victoria Hospital in Belfast, largely in response to the number of head injuries caused by the violence of the early days of the Troubles. Now the University of Ulster is hoping to update the process even further. The academics are exploring the possibility of automating the process of creating the skull models and cutting and shaping the titanium plates.