Simulations for sinus surgery

The risk associated with sinus surgeries could be reduced with new techniques for producing physical surgery models of the sinus.

The technology is being developed by Loughborough University and Nottingham NHS Trust through an EPSRC Innovative Manufacturing and Construction Research Centre-funded project that is investigating design and production techniques to produce realistic physical surgery models of the sinus.

With these models, doctors will be able to enact and evaluate different surgical cases.

Endoscopic surgery of the sinus anatomy requires high precision and carries a significant risk of accidental damage. It is claimed that at present, simulation techniques are costly and neglect many aspects of the surgical requirements.

The leader of the Loughborough team, Dr Russell Harris, from the Department of Mechanical and Manufacturing Engineering, said at present junior doctors and other clinicians are forced to rely on teaching from cadavers and limited simulation techniques.

The new method designs simulation models by reverse engineering the data from MRI and CT scans. These designs are made into physical models by automated manufacturing techniques. The resultant models replicate the appearance and physicality of the human sinus in surgery.