Yuchun Liu, PhD: A Novel Approach for Reconstruction of Segmental Jaw Defect скачать в хорошем качестве

Yuchun Liu, PhD: A Novel Approach for Reconstruction of Segmental Jaw Defect

Jaw defects may result from trauma, inflammatory diseases or upon tumour resection. The gold standard for jaw reconstruction remains to be the microvascular free flap harvested from the fibula bone. Despite reported to have high success rates of more than 90%, this strategy requires two surgery sites and hence, significantly extends the total surgery time. In the Singapore General Hospital, the entire surgical procedure of jaw reconstruction using a fibula flap takes approximately 7-12 hours, and involves vessel anastomosis and shaping of the fibula to fit the contour of the patient’s jaw. This procedure is time-consuming, complex and requires skilled expertise. Furthermore, patients will be subjected to donor site morbidity, and require longer hospitalization stay and rehabilitation post-surgery. With the advancement of medical technology over the years, patients now have higher expectations in terms of functionality, aesthetics and quality of healthcare delivered. This study aims to develop a novel endoprosthesis system that can provide a safe, stable and functional reconstruction of the jaw upon segmental resection. Our solution is intended to be an off-the-shelf titanium-based system with a novel modular design for the repair of jaw defects of varying sizes. This solution involves only one surgery site and eliminates harvest of patient’s own tissues, hence reducing the complexity of the surgery significantly. This approach also eliminates any potential risks of complications such as infection and pain arising at the fibula donor site and associated mobility inconvenience. With this endoprosthesis system, we expect the entire surgical procedure to be shortened by an average of 5 hours. As no post-operative monitoring of the donor site is required, patient’s hospitalization stay is significantly shortened from 1-3 weeks to about 3 days. Our team believes that this novel solution will have a significant impact on public health and will provide disruptive value to the field of oral-maxillofacial reconstruction. Medicine X is a catalyst for new ideas about the future of medicine and health care. The initiative explores how emerging technologies will advance the practice of medicine, improve health, and empower patients to be active participants in their own care. The “X” is meant to encourage thinking beyond numbers and trends—it represents the infinite possibilities for current and future information technologies to improve health. Under the direction of Dr. Larry Chu, Associate Professor of Anesthesia, Medicine X is a project of the Stanford AIM Lab.