Reconstructive Surgery
Prosthesis/Epithesis Applications for Ear, Eye, Nose and Finger Deficiencies
For patients' prostheses/epitheses to be made in a computer environment, digital information about the patient first needs to be transferred to the computer.
About Prosthesis / Epithesis
What is Prosthesis/Epithesis Applications for Ear, Eye, Nose and Finger Deficiencies?
For patients' prostheses/epitheses to be made in a computer environment, digital information about the patient first needs to be transferred to the computer. For this, computed tomography and/or three-dimensional photographs of the patient need to be taken. After the digital information is transferred to the computer, a mirror image is obtained from the healthy side and a mould of the tissue whose deficiency is to be completed is made. So that the epitheses to be produced based on these moulds can be fixed securely in the areas where they are applied, the implant technology that dentists use for dental prostheses is used. 2-3 implants are placed in the bones around the area where the epithesis will be applied. After these implants have fused with the bone, very strong magnets are fixed to their ends. When magnets are also placed in the epitheses, the two magnets will hold each other strongly. Whether the applied epitheses draw attention when looked at depends entirely on the skill of the clinician making them.
What is prosthetic ear repair? This is the procedure of creating an ear externally in the form of a prosthesis, using the healthy ear as a model. The most important points in this method are that the prosthesis is fixed to the head firmly enough and that, when looked at, it cannot be seen that the ear is a prosthesis. To fix the prosthesis to the skull, the implant technology that dentists use for dental prostheses is used. After 2-3 implants placed in the skull bone have fused with the bone, very strong magnets are placed on their ends and the prosthesis is fixed to the head. Whether the prosthesis draws attention when looked at depends entirely on the skill of the clinician making it. The better the colour and details of the prosthesis are adjusted, the more perfect the result will be. However, it should not be forgotten that even when the colour match is perfectly achieved, if the patient tans in the sun or changes in skin colour occur over time, the prosthesis will have no chance of adapting to these changes.
How is ear repair performed with virtual surgery? After the ear on the healthy side is imaged with surface scanners or three-dimensional tomography, a mirror image of this ear is obtained in a computer environment. If there are existing tissues on the deficient side, the existing image is subtracted from the mirror image, and the exact size of the repair needed on the deficient side is determined.
A prosthetic ear matching the determined model can be made, and this model can also be used to make an ear from the person's own tissues.
When this model is printed on a 3D printer and used as a guide during the operation, it provides much more detailed and accurate information than a tracing of the opposite ear on X-ray film or a transparent plastic sheet. In addition, for the cartilage, which one tries to shape by reducing it to two dimensions, a complete and accurate three-dimensional model is used.
The final point reached using virtual surgery is creating the framework of the ear from silicone using the model at hand. After the model of the ear deficiency is obtained as described above, a negative mould of the model is made. Medical silicone is poured into this mould to obtain the implant to be applied to the patient. This implant can be used in multi-stage ear repair by placing it under the skin in front of the hairline where the deficiency is, or in single-stage ear repair by wrapping it in a muscle sheath taken from the temple region.
Since ear framework implants made of medical silicone are soft, unlike Medpor implants they do not easily perforate the skin covering them and come out when lain on. Since the material used is biocompatible, they cause minimal tissue reaction in the tissues where they are applied.
What is prosthetic eye repair? When, after loss of vision for any reason, the eyeball cannot fill the inside of the orbital bones, or when the entire eyeball has been removed, eye epitheses can be used to eliminate the resulting aesthetic loss. In patients whose eyelids are intact, since the epithesis can stay in the eye socket, it is sufficient to prepare an epithesis matching the other eye in colour and volume and place it inside the lids. However, in patients who also lack eyelids, 2-3 implants first need to be placed in the bones around the eye (periorbital) for the epithesis to stay in place. Following the adaptation of these implants to the bone, the epithesis will be fixed in place by means of the magnets applied to the implants and the epithesis. In this way, when needed, the patient will be able to remove the prosthesis, clean the socket where the epithesis is applied and the epithesis itself, and easily put the epithesis back in place.
What is prosthetic nose repair? Today, nasal deficiencies can be repaired satisfactorily with tissue transfers from the forehead or other parts of the body. However, for medical reasons or when the patient does not want tissue to be transferred from another part of their body, the facial deformity can be camouflaged to some extent with epitheses applied to 2-3 implants after they have been placed in the facial bones.
What is prosthetic finger repair? The fourth and fifth fingers of the hand do not play a very large role in hand function, except in tasks requiring a strong grip. Nevertheless, a missing finger on a part of the body as visible as the hands is a deformity that is aesthetically difficult to accept. Many people request a colour-matched prosthesis that cannot be recognised from the outside, even if it has no function. Silicone finger prostheses placed on bone implants inserted into the bone of the missing finger, as with dental implants, meet this need. Placing an implant in the bone is quite an easy surgical procedure. Following the adaptation of this implant to the bone, prostheses that can fit onto the implant are produced. In this way, when needed, the patient can remove the prosthesis, clean their hand and the prosthesis, and easily put the prosthesis back in place.
Let's Create the RightPlan for You Together.
Contact us for detailed information on Prosthesis / Epithesis and a treatment plan tailored to you.
First Step